





THE 

CHOICE AVORKS OF COOPER. 


EEVISED AND OOEKECTED SEEIES. 


WITH 

NEW INTRODUCTIONS, NOTES, ETC. 


VOL. III. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 




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INTRODUCTION 


It is believed that the scene of this tale, and most of 
the information necessary to understand its allusicns, 
are rendered sufficiently obvious to the reader in the 
text itself, or in the accompanying notes. Still there 
is so much obscurity in the Indian traditions, and so 
much confusion in the Indian names, as to render some 
explanation useful. 

Few men exhibit greater diversity, or, if we may so 
express it, greater antithesis of character, than the 
native warrior of North America. In war, he is daring, 
boastful, cunning, ruthless, self-denying, and self- 
devoted ; in peace, just, generous, hospitable, revenge- 
ful, superstitious, modest, and commonly chaste. These 
are qualities, it is true, which do not distinguish all 
alike ; but they are so far the predominating traits of 
these remarkable people, as to be characteristic. 

It is generally believed that the Aborigines of the 
American continent have an Asiatic origin. There 
are many physical as well as moral facts which 
corroborate this opinion, and some few that would 
seem to weigh against it. 

The color of the Indian, the writer believes, is 
peculiar to himself ; and while his cheek-bones have a 
very striking indication of a Tartar origin, his eyes 


VI 


INTRODUCTION. 


have not. Climate may have had great influence on 
the former, but it is diflicult to see how it can have 
produced the substantial difference which exists in the 
latter. The imagery of the Indian, both in his poetry 
and his oratory, is Oriental, — chastened, and perhaps 
improved, by the limited range of his practical know- 
ledge. He draws his metaphors from the clouds, the 
seasons, the birds, the beasts, and the vegetable world. 
In this, perhaps, he does no more than any other 
energetic and imaginative race would do, being com- 
pelled to set bounds to fancy by experience ; but the 
North American Indian clothes his ideas in a dress 
which is different from that of the African, and is 
Oriental in itself. His language has the richness and 
sententious fulness of the Chinese. He will express a 
phrase in a word, and he will qualify the meaning of 
an entire sentence by a syllable ; he will even convey 
different significations by the simplest inflexions of the 
voice. 

Philologists have said that there are but two or three 
languages, properly speaking, among all the numerous 
tribes which formerly occupied the country that now 
composes the United States. They ascribe the known 
difficulty one people have in understanding another to 
corruptions and dialects. The writer remembers to 
have been present at an interview between two chiefs 
of the Great Prairies west of the Mississippi, and when 
an interpreter was in attendance who spoke both their 
languages. The warriors appeared to be on the most 
friendly terms, and seemingly conversed much together; 
yet, according to the account of the interpreter, each 
was absolutely ignorant of what the other said. They 
were of hostile tribes, brought together by the influence 
of the American government; and it is worthy of 


I^TRODUCTION. 


Vll 


remark, that a common policy led them both to adopt 
the same subject. They mutually exhorted each other 
to be of use in the event of the chances of war 
throwing either of the parties into the hands of his 
enemies. Whatever may be the truth, as respects the 
root and the genius of the Indian tongues, it is quite 
certain they are now so distinct in their words as to 
possess most of the disadvantages of strange languages : 
hence much of the embarrassment that has arisen in 
learning their histories, and most of the uncertainty 
which exists in their traditions. 

Like nations of higher pretensions, the American 
Indian gives a very different account of his own tribe 
or race from that which is given by other people. He 
is much addicted to over-estimating his own perfections, 
and to undervaluing those of his rival or his enemy ; a 
trait which may possibly be thought corroborative of 
the Mosaic account of the creation. 

The Whites have assisted greatly in rendering the 
traditions of the Aborigines more obscure by their own 
manner of corrupting names. Thus, the term used in 
the title of this book has undergone the changes of 
Mahicanni, Mohicans, and Mohegans ; the latter being 
the word commonly used by the Whites. When it is 
remembered that the Dutch (who first settled New 
York), the English, and the French, all gave appellations 
to the tribes that dwelt within the country which is 
the scene ol this story, and that the Indians not only 
gave different names to their enemies, but frequently 
to themselves, the cause of the confusion will be 
understood. 

In these pages, Lenni-Lenape, Lenope, Delawares, 
Wapanachki, and Mohicans, all mean the same people, 
or tribes of the same stock. The Mengwe, the 


Vlll 


INTRODUCTION. 


Maquas, the Mingoes, and the Iroquois, though not all 
strictly the same, are identified frequently by the 
speakers, being politically confederated and opposed to 
those just named. Mingo was a term of peculiai 
reproach, as were Mengwe and Maqua in a less 
degree. 

The Mohicans were the possessors of the country 
first occupied by the Europeans in this portion of the 
continent. They were, consequently, the first dis- 
possessed ; and the seemingly inevitable fate of all these 
people, who disappear before the advances, or it might 
be termed the inroads, of civilization, as the verdure of 
their native forests falls before the nipping frost, is 
represented as having already befallen them. There 
is sufficient historical truth in the picture to justify the 
use that has been made of it. 

In point of fact, the country which is the scene of 
the following tale has undergone as little change, since 
the historical events alluded to had place, as almost 
any other district of equal extent within the whole 
limits of the United States. There are fashionable 
and well-attended watering-places at and near the 
spring where Hawk-eye halted to drink, and roads 
traverse the forests where he and his friends were 
compelled to journey without even a path. Glenn’s 
has a large village ; and while William Henry, and 
even a fortress of later date, are only to be traced as 
ruins, there is another village on the shores of the 
Horican. But, beyond this, the enterprise and energy 
of a people who have done so much in other places 
have done little here. The whole of that wilderness, 
in which the latter incidents of the legend occurred, is 
nearly a wilderness still, though the red man has 
entirely deserted this part of the state. Of all the 


INTRODUCTION*. 


IX 


tribes named in these pages, there exist only a few 
half- civilized beings of the Oneidas, on the reservations 
of their people in New York. The rest have disap- 
peared, either from the regions in which their fathers 
dwelt, or altogether from the earth. 

There is one point on which we would wish to say 
a word before closing this preface. Hawk-eye calls 
the Lac du Saint Sacrement, the “ Horican.” As we 
believe this to be an appropriation of the name that 
has its origin with ourselves, the time has arrived, 
perhaps, when the fact should be frankly admitted. 
While writing this book, fully a quarter of a century 
since, it occurred to us that the French name of this 
lake was too complicated, the American too common- 
place, and the Indian too unpronounceable, for either 
to be used familiarly in a work of fiction. Looking over 
an ancient map, it was ascertained that a tribe of 
Indians, called “ Les Horicans’’ by the French, existed 
in the neighborhood of this beautiful sheet of water. 
As every word uttered by Natty Bumppo was not to 
be received as rigid truth, we took the liberty of 
putting the “ Horican” into his mouth, as the substitute 
for “ Lake George."^ The name has appeared to find 
favor, and all things considered, it may possibly be 
quite as well to let it stand, instead of going back to 
the House of Hanover for the appellation of our finest 
sheet of water. We relieve our conscience by the con- 
fession, at all events, leaving it to exercise its authority 
as it may see fit. 


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THE 


LAST OE THE MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER I. 

Mine ear is open, and my heart prepared : 

The worst is worldiy loss thou canst unfold 

Say, is my kingdom lost 1 

Shakspeare. 

It was a feature peculiar to the colonial wars of North Ame- 
rica, that the toils and dangers of the wilderness were to be 
encountered before the adverse hosts could meet. A wide 
and apparently an impervious boundary of forests severed the 
possessions of the hostile provinces of France and England. 
The hardy colonist, and the trained European who fought at 
his side, frequently expended months in struggling against the 
rapids of the streams, or in effecting the rugged passes of the 
mountains, in quest of an opportunity to exhibit their courage 
in a more martial conflict. But, emulating the patience and 
self-denial of the practised native warriors, they learned to 
overcome every difficulty ; and it would seem that, in time, 
there was no recess of the woods so dark, nor any secret place 
so lovely, that it might claim exemption from the inroads of 
those who had pledged their blood to satiate their vengeance, or 
to uphold the cold and selfish policy of the distant monarchs 
of Europe. 

Perhaps no district throughout the wide extent of the inter- 
mediate frontiers can furnish a livelier picture of the cruelty 
and fierceness of the savage warfare, of those periods than the 
country which lies between the head waters of the Hudson and 
the adjacent lakes. 


12 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, 

The facilities which nature had there offered to the march 
of the combatants were too obvious to be neglected. Ihe 
lengthened sheet of the Champlain stretched from the frontiers 
of Canada, deep within the borders of the neighboring province 
of New York, forming a natural passage across half the 
distance that the French were compelled to master in order to 
strike their enemies. Near its southern termination, it received 
the contributions of another lake, whose waters were so limpid 
as to have been exclusively selected by the Jesuit missionaries 
to perform the typical purification of baptism, and to obtain for 
it the title of lake “ du Saint Sacrement.” The less zealous 
English thought they conferred a sufficient honor on its 
unsullied fountains, when they bestowed the name of their 
reigning prince, the second of the house of Hanover. The two 
united to rob the untutored possessors of its wooded scenery 
of their native right to perpetuate its original appellation of 
“Horican.”^ 

Winding its way among countless islands, and imbedded in 
mountains, the “holy lake” extended a dozen leagues still 
further to the south. With the high plain that there interposed 
itself to the further passage of the water, commenced a portage 
of as many miles, which conducted the adventurer to the banks 
of the Hudson, at a point where, with the usual obstructions of 
the rapids, or rifts, as they were then termed in the language 
of the country, the river became navigable to the tide. 

While, in the pursuit of their daring plans of annoyance, the 
restless enterprise of the French even attempted the distant and 
difficult gorges of the Alleghany, it may easily be imagined 
that their proverbial acuteness would not overlook the natural 
advantages of the district we have just described. It became, 


* As each nation of the Indians had either its lan^age or its dialect, they 
usually gave difierent names to the same places, though nearly all of their appella- 
tions were descriptive of the object. Thus, a literal translation of the name of this 
beautiful sheet of water, used by the tribe that dwelt on its banks, would be “ The 
Tail of the l.ake.” Lake George, as it is vulgarly, and now indeed legally, called, 
forms a sort of tail to Lake Champlain, when viewed on the map Hence the 
came. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 13 

Ginphatically, the bloody arena, in which most of the battles foi 
the mastery of the colonies were contested. Forts were erected 
at the different points that commanded the facilities of the 
route, and we^e taken and retaken, rased and rebuilt, as victory 
alighted on the hostile banners. While the husbandman 
shrank back from the dangerous passes, within the safer 
boundaries of the more ancient settlements, armies larger than 
those that had often disposed of the sceptres of the mother 
countries, were seen to bury themselves in these forests, whence 
they rarely returned but in skeleton bands, that were haggard 
with care, or dejected by defeat. Though the arts of peace 
were unknown to this fatal region, its forests were alive with 
men ; its shades and glens rang with the sounds of martial 
music, and the echoes of its mountains threw back the laugh, or 
repeated the wanton cry, of many a gallant and reckless youth, 
as he hurried by them, in the noontide of his spirits, to slumber 
in a long night of forgetfulness. 

It was in this scene of strife and bloodshed that the incidents 
we shall attempt to relate occurred, during the third year of the 
war which England and France last waged for the possession 
of a country that neither was destined to retain. 

The imbecility of her military leaders abroad, and the fatal 
want of energy in her councils at home, had lowered the 
character of Great Britain from the proud elevation on which it 
had been placed, by the talents and enterprise of her former 
warriors and statesmen. No longer dreaded by her enemies, 
her servants were fast losing the confidence of self-respect. In 
this mortifying abasement, the colonists, though innocent of her 
imbecility, and too humble to be the agents of her blunders, 
w'ere but the natural participators. They had recently seen a 
chosen army from that country, which, reverencing as a mother, 
they had blindly believed invincible — an army led by a chief 
who had been selected from a crowd of trained warriors, for his 
rare military endowments, disgracefully routed by a handful of 
French and Indians, and only saved from annihilation by the 
coolness and spirit of a Virginian boy, whose riper fame has 


14 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


since diffused itself, with the steady influence of moral truth, to 
the uttermost confines of Christendom.^ A wide frontier had 
been laid naked by this unexpected disaster, and more substan- 
tial evils were preceded by a thousand fanciful and imaginary 
dangers. The alarmed colonists believed that the yells of the 
savages mingled with every fitful gust of wind that issued from 
the interminable forests of the west. The terrific character of 
their merciless enemies increased immeasurably the natural 
horrors of warfare. Numberless recent massacres were still 
vivid in their recollections; nor was there any ear in the 
provinces so deaf as not to have drunk in with avidity the 
narrative of some fearful tale of midnight murder, in which the 
natives of the forests were the principal and barbarous actors. 
As the credulous and excited traveller related the hazardous 
chances of the wilderness, the blood of the timid curdled with 
terror, and mothers cast anxious glances even at those children 
which slumbered within the security of the largest towns. In 
short, the magnifying influence of fear began to set at naught 
the calculations of reason, and to render those who should have 
remembered their manhood, the slaves of the basest of passions. 
Even the most confident and the stoutest hearts began to think 
the issue of the contest was becoming doubtful ; and that abject 
class was hourly increasing in numbers, who thought they fore- 
saw all the possessions of the English crown in America sub- 
dued by their Christian foes, or laid waste by the inroads of 
their relentless allies. 

When, therefore, intelligence was received at the fort which 
covered the southern termination of the portage between the 
Hudson and the lakes, that Montcalm had been seen movino- 

* Washington : who, after uselessly admonishing the European general of the 
danger into which he was heedlessly running, saved the remnants of the British 
army, on this occasion, by his decision and courage. The reputation earned by 
Washington in this battle was the principal cause of his being selected to com- 
mand the American armies at a later day. It is a circumstance worthy of observa- 
tion, that, while all America rang with his well merited reputation, his name does 
not occur in any European account of the battle ; at least, the author has searched 
for it without success. In this manner does the mother country absorb even the 
fame, under that system of rule. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


15 


up the Champlain, with an army “ numerous as the leaves on 
the trees,” its truth was admitted with more of the craven reluc- 
tance of fear than with the stern joy that a warrior should feel, 
in finding an enemy within reach of his blow. The news had 
been brought, towards the decline of a day in midsummer, by 
an Indian runner, who also bore an urgent request from Munro, 
the commander of a work on the shore of the “ holy lake,” for a 
speedy and powerful reinforcement. It has already been men- 
tioned that the distance between these two posts was less than 
five leagues. The rude path, which originally formed their line 
of communication, had been widened for the passage of wa- 
gons ; so that the distance which had been travelled by the son 
of the forest in two hours, might easily be effected by a detach- 
ment of troops, with their necessary baggage, between the 
rising and setting of a summer sun. The loyal servants of the 
British crown had given to one of these forest fastnesses the 
name of William Henry, and to the other that of Fort Edward ; 
calling each after a favorite prince of the reigning family. The 
veteran Scotchman just named held the fiist, with a regi- 
ment of regulars and a few provincials ; a force really by far too 
small to make head against the formidable power that Mont- 
calm was leading to the foot of his earthen mounds. At the 
latter, however, lay General Webb, who commanded the armies 
of the king in the northern provinces, with a body of more than 
five thousand men. By uniting the several detachments of his 
command, this officer might have arrayed nearly double that 
number of combatants against the enterprising Frenchman, who 
had ventured so far from his reinforcements, with an army but 
little superior in numbers. 

But under the influence of their degraded fortunes, both offi- 
cers and men appeared better disposed to await the approach of 
their formidable antagonists, within their works, than to resist 
the progress of their march, by emulating the successful example 
of the French at Fort du Quesne, and striking a blow on their 
advance. 

After the first surprise of the intelligence had a httle abated, 


IG 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


a rumor was spread through the entrenched camp, which 
stretched along the margin of the Hudson, forming a chain of 
outworks to the body of the fort itself, that a chosen detachment 
of fifteen hundred men was to depart, with the dawn, for 
William Henry, the post at the northern extremity of the port- 
age. That which at first was only rumor, soon became cer- 
tainty, as orders passed from the quarters of the commander-in- 
chief to the several corps he had selected for this service, to pre- 
pare for their speedy departure. All doubt as to the intention 
of Webb now vanished, and an hour or two of hurried footsteps 
and anxious faces succeeded. The novice in the military art 
flew from point to point, retarding his own preparations by the 
excess of his violent and somewhat distempered zeal ; while the 
more practised veteran made his arrangements with a delibera- 
tion that scorned every appearance of haste ; though his sober 
lineaments and anxious eye sufficiently betrayed that he had no 
very strong professional relish for the, as yet, untried and 
dreaded warfare of the wilderness. At length the sun set in a 
flood of glory, behind the distant western hills, and as darkness 
drew its veil around the secluded spot the sounds of preparation 
diminished ; the last light finally disappeared from the log 
cabin of some officer ; the trees cast their deeper shadows over 
the mounds and the rippling stream, and a silence soon per- 
vaded the camp, as deep as that which reigned in the vast forest 
by which it was environed. 

According to the orders of the preceding night, the heavy 
sleep of the army was broken by the rolling of the warning 
drums, whose rattling echoes were heard issuing '-ofi the damp 
morning air, out of every vista of the woods, just as day began 
to draw the shaggy outlines of some tall pines of the vicinity, 
on the opening brightness of a soft and cloudless eastern sky. 
In an instant the whole camp was in motion ; the meanest sol- 
dier arousing from his lair to witness the departure of his com- 
rades, and to share in the excitement and incidents of the hour. 
The simple array of the chosen band was soon completed. 
While the regular and trained hirelings of the king marched 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. l7 

with haughtiness to the right of the line, the less pretending co- 
lonists took their humbler position on its left, with a docility 
that long practice had rendered easy. The scouts departed ; 
strong guards preceded and followed the lumbering vehicles 
that bore the baggage ; and before the grey light of the morn- 
ing was mellowed by the rays of the sun, the main body of the 
combatants wheeled into column, and left the encampment with 
a show of high military bearing, that served to drown the slum- 
bering apprehensions of many a novice, who was now about to 
make his first essay in arms. While in view of their admiring 
comrades, the same proud front and ordered array was observed, 
until the notes of their fifes growing fainter in distance, the 
forest at length appeared to swallow up the living mass which 
had slowly entered its bosom. 

The deepest sounds of the retiring and invisible column had 
ceased to be borne on the breeze to the listeners, and the latest 
straggler had already disappeared in pursuit ; but there still re- 
mained the signs of another departure, before a log cabin of un- 
usual size and accommodations, in front of which those sentinels 
paced their rounds, who were known to guard the person of the 
English general. At this spot were gathered some half dozen 
horses, caparisoned in a manner which showed that two, at least, 
were destined to bear the persons of females, of a rank that it 
was not usual to meet so far in the wilds of the country. A 
third wore the trappings and arms of an officer of the staff ; 
while the rest, from the plainness of the housings, and the tra- 
velling mails with which they were encumbered, were evidently 
fitted for the reception of as many menials, who were, seem- 
ingly, already awaiting the pleasure of those they served. At a 
respectful distance from this unusual show, were gathered divers 
groups of curious idlers ; some admiring the blood and bone of 
the high-mettled military charger, and others gazing at the pre- 
parations, with the dull wonder of vulgar curiosity. There was 
one man, however, who, by his countenance and actions, formed 
a marked exception to those who composed the latter class of 
spectators, being neither idle, nor seemingly very ignorant. 


18 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

The person of this individual was to the last degree ungainly 
without being in any particular manner deformed. He had all 
the bones and joints of other men, without any of their propor- 
tions. Erect, his stature surpassed that of his fellows ; though, 
seated, he appeared reduced within the ordinary limits of the 
race. The same contrariety in his members seemed to exist 
throughout the whole man. His head was large ; his shoulders 
narrow ; his arms long and dangling ; while his hands were 
small, if not delicate. His legs and thighs were thin, nearly to 
emaciation, but of extraordinary length ; and his knees would 
have been considered tremendous, had they not been outdone 
by the broader foundations on which this false superstructure of 
blended human orders was so profanely reared. The ill-assorted 
and injudicious attire of the individual only served to render his 
awkwardness more conspicuous. A sky-blue coat, with short 
and broad skirts and low cape, exposed a long thin neck, and 
longer and thinner legs, to the worst animadversions of the evil 
disposed. His nether garment was of yellow nankeen, closely 
fitted to the shape, and tied at his bunches of knees by large 
knots of white riband, a good deal sullied by use. Clouded 
cotton stockings, and shoes, on one of the latter of which was a 
plated spur, completed the costume of the lower extremity of 
this figure, no curve or angle of which was concealed, but, on 
the other hand, studiously exhibited, through the vanity or sim- 
plicity of its owner. From beneath the flap of an enormous 
pocket of a soiled vest of embossed silk, heavily ornamented 
with tarnished silver lace, projected an instrument, which, from 
being seen in such martial company, might have been easily 
mistaken for some mischievous and unknown implement of war. 
Small as it was, this uncommon engine had excited the curiosity 
of most of the Europeans in the camp, though several of the 
provincials were seen to handle it, not only without fear, but 
with the utmost familiarity. A large, civil cocked hat, like 
those worn by clergymen within the last thirty years, sur- 
mounted the whole, furnishing dignity to a good-natured and 
somewhat vacant countenance, that apparently needed such ar- 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


19 


- tificial aid, to support the gravity of some high and extraordi- 
nary trust. 

While the common herd stood aloof, in deference to the 
quarters of Webb, the figure we have described stalked into the 
centre of the domestics, freely expressing his censures or com- 
mendations on the merits of the horses, as by chance they dis- 
pleased or satisfied his judgment. 

“ This beast, I rather conclude, friend, is not of home raising, 
but is from foreign lands, or perhaps from the little island itself, 
over the blue water ?” he said, in a voice as remarkable for the 
softness and sweetness of its tones, as was his person for its rare 
proportions : “ I may speak of these things, and be no braggart ; 
for I have been down at both havens ; that which is situate at 
the mouth of Thames, and is named after the capital of Old 
England, and that which is called ‘ Haven,’ with the addition of 
the word ‘ New and have seen the snows and brigantines col- 
lecting their droves, like the gathering to the ark, being out- 
ward bound to the Island of Jamaica, for the purpose of barter 
and traffic in four-footed animals ; but never before have I be- 
held a beast which verified the true scripture war-horse like 
this ; ‘ He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength : 
he goeth on to meet the armed men. He saith among the 
trumpets, Ha, ha ; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thun- 
der of the captains, and the shouting.’ — It would seem that the 
stock of the horse of Israel has descended to our own time ; 
would it not, friend ?” 

Receiving no reply to this extraordinary appeal, which, in 
truth, as it was delivered with the vigor of full and sonorous 
tones, merited some sort of notice, he who had thus sung forth 
the language of the holy book turned to the silent figure to 
whom he had unwittingly addressed himself, and found a new 
and more powerful subject of admiration in the object that 
encountered his gaze. His eyes fell on the still, upright, and 
rigid form of the “ Indian runner,” who had borne to the camp 
the unwelcome tidings of the preceding evening. Although in 
a state of perfect repose, and apparently disregarding, with 


20 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


characteristic stoicism, the excitement and hustle around him, 
there was a sullen fierceness mingled with the quiet of the 
savage, that was likely to arrest the attention of much more 
experienced eyes than those which now scanned him, in uncon- 
cealed amazement. The native bore both the tomahawk and 
knife of his tribe ; and yet his appearance was not altogether 
that of a warrior. On the contrary, there was an air of neglect 
about his person, like that which might have proceeded from 
great and recent exertion, which he had not yet found leisure to 
repair. The colors of the war-paint had blended in dark 
confusion about his fierce countenance, and rendered his swarthy 
lineaments still more savage and repulsive, than if art had 
attempted an effect, which had been thus produced by chance. 
His ej^e, alone, which glistened like a fiery star amid lowering 
clouds, was to be seen in its state of native wildness. For a 
single instant, his searching and yet wary glance met the 
wondering look of the other, and then changing its direction, 
partly in cunning, and partly in disdain, it remained fixed, as if 
penetrating the distant air. 

It is impossible to say what unlooked for remark this short 
and silent communication, between two such singular men, 
might have elicited from the white man, had not his active 
curiosity been again drawn to other objects. A general move- 
ment amongst the domestics, and a low sound of gentle voices, 
announced the approach of those whose presence alone was 
wanted to enable the cavalcade to move. The simple admirer 
of the war-horse instantly fell back to a low, gaunt, switch- 
tailed mare, that was unconsciously gleaning the fiided herbage 
of the camp nigh by ; where, leaning with one elbow on the 
blanket that concealed an apology for a saddle, he became a 
spectator of the departure, while a foal was quietly making its 
morning repast, on the opposite side of the same animal. 

A young man, in the dress of an officer, conducted to their 
steeds two females, who, as it was apparent by their dresses, 
were prepared to encounter the fatigues of a journey in the 
woods. One, and she was the most juvenile in her appearance, 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, 


21 


though both were young, permitted glimpses of her dazzling 
complexion, fair golden hair, and bright blue eyes, to be 
caught, as she artlessly suffered the morning air to blow aside 
the green veil which descended low from her beaver. The flush 
which still lingered above the pines in the western sky was not 
more bright nor delicate than the bloom on her cheek ; nor was 
the opening day more cheering than the animated smile which 
she bestowed on the youth, as he assisted her into the saddle. 
The other, who appeared to share equally in the attentions of 
the young officer, concealed her charms from the gaze of the 
soldiery Avith a care that seemed better filled to the experience 
of four or five additional years. It could be seen, however, that her 
person, though moulded with the same exquisite proportions, of 
which none of the graces were lost by the travelling dress she 
wore, was rather fuller and more mature than that of her 
companion. 

No sooner were these females seated, than their attendant 
sprang lightly into the saddle of the war-horse, Avhen the whole 
three bowed to Webb, who, in courtesy, awaited their parting 
on the threshold of his cabin, and turning their horses' heads, 
they proceeded at a slow arable, followed by their train, towards 
the northern entrance of the encampment. As they traversed 
that short distance, not a voice w^as heard amongst them ; but 
a slight exclamation proceeded from the younger of the females, 
as the Indian runner glided by her, unexpectedly, and led the 
way along the military road in her front. Though this sudden 
and startling movement of the Indian produced no sound from 
the other, in the surprise, her veil also was allow^ed to open its 
folds, and betrayed an indescribable look of pity, admiration, 
and horror, as her dark eye followed the easy motions of the 
savage. The tresses of this lady were shining and black, like 
the plumage of the raven. Her complexion was not brown, but 
it rather appeared charged with the color of the rich blood, that 
seemed ready to burst its bounds. And yet there was neither 
coarseness nor want of shadowing in a countenance that was 
exquisitely regular and dignified, and surpassingly beautiful. 


22 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


She smiled, as if in pity at her own momentary forgetfulness, 
discovering by the act a row' of teeth that would have shamed 
the purest ivory ; when, replacing the veil, she bowed her face, 
and rode in silence, like one whose thoughts were abstracted 
from the scene around her. 




THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


23 


CHAPTER II. 

Sola, sola, wo ha, ho, sola ! 

Shakspeark. 

While one of the lovely beings we have so cursorily pre- 
sented to the reader was thus lost in thought, the other quickly 
recovered from the alarm which induced the exclamation, and, 
laughing at her own weakness, she inquired of the youth "VYho 
rode by her side — 

“ Are such spectres frequent in the woods, Heyward ; or is 
this sight an especial entertainment ordered on our behalf ? If 
the latter, gratitude must close our mouths ; but if the former, 
both Cora and I shall have need to draw largely on that stock 
of hereditary courage which we boast, even before we are made 
to encounter the redoubtable Montcalm.” 

“ Yon Indian is a ‘ runner ’ of the army ; and, after the 
fashion of his people, he may be accounted f hero,” returned 
the officer. “ He has volunteered to guide us to the lake, by a 
path but little known, sooner than if we followed the tardy 
movements of the column ; and, by consequence, more 
agreeably.” 

“ I like him not,” said the lady, shuddering, partly in 
assumed, yet more in real terror. “ You know him, Duncan, 
or you would not trust yourself so freely to his keeping ?” 

“ Say, rather, Alice, that I would not trust you. I do know 
him, or he would not have my confidence, and least of all at 
this moment. He is said to be a Canadian too ; and yet he 
served with our friends the Mohawks, who, as you know, are 
one of the six allied nations.^' He was brought nmongst us, as 

* There existed for a long time a confederation among the Indian tribes which 
occupied the north-western part of the colony of New York, which was at first 


24 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


I have heard, by some strange accident in which your father 
was interested, and in which the savage was rigidly dealt by — 
but I forget the idle tale ; it is enough, that he is now our 
friend.” 

“ If he has been my father’s enemy, I like him still less !” 
exclaimed the now really anxious girl. “ Will you not speak 
to him. Major Heyward, that I may hear his tones ? Foolish 
though it may be, you have often heard me avow my faith in 
the tones of the human voice !” 

“ It would be in vain ; and answered, most probably, by an 
ejaculation. Though he may understand it, he affects, like most 
of his people, to be ignorant of the English ; and least of all 
will he condescend to speak it now, that war demands the 
utmost exercise of his dignity. But he stops ; the private path 
by which we are to journey is, doubtless, at hand.” 

The conjecture of Major Heyward was true. When they 
reached the spot where the Indian stood, pointing into the 
thicket that fringed the military road, a narrow and blind path, 
which might, with some little inconvenience, receive one person 
at a time, became visible. 

“ Here, then, lies our way,” said the young man, in a low 
voice. “ Manifest no distrust, or you may invite the danger 
you appear to apprehend.” 

“ Cora, what think you ?” asked the reluctant fair one. 

“ If we journey with the troops, though we may find their 
presence irksome, shall we not feel better assurance of our 
safety ?” 

“Being little accustomed to the practices of the savages, 


known as the “Five Nations.” At a later day it admitted another tribe, when the 
appellation was changed to that of the “Six Nations.” The original confederation 
consisted of the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Senecas, the Cayugas, and the Onon- 
dagoes. The sixth tribe was the Tuscaroras. There are remnants of all these 
people still living on lands secured to them by the state ; but they are daily 
disappearing, either by deaths or by removals to scenes more congenial to their 
habits. In a short time there wilt be no remains of these extraordinary people, in 
those regions in which they dwelt for centuries, but their names. The state of 
New York has counties named after all of them but the Mohawks and the 
Tuscaroras. The second river of that state is called the Mohawk. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


25 


Alice, you mistake the place of real danger,” said Heyward. If 
enemies have reached the portage at all, a thing by no means 
probable, as our scouts are abroad, they will surely be found 
skirting the column, where scalps abound the most. The route 
of the detachment is known, while ours, having been determined 
within the hour, must still be secret.” 

“ Should we distrust the man because his manners are not 
our manners, and that his skin is dark !” coldly asked Cora. 

Alice hesitated no longer; but giving her Narraganset* a 
smart cut of the whip, she was the first to dash aside the slight 
branches of the bushes, and to follow the runner along the dark 
and tangled pathway. The young man regarded the last 
speaker in open admiration, and even permitted her fairer 
though certainly not more beautiful companion to proceed 
unattended, while he sedulously opened the way himself for the 
passage of her who has been called Cora. It would seem that 
the domestics had been previously instructed ; for, instead of 
penetrating the thicket, they followed the route of the column ; 
a measure which Heyward stated had been dictated by the 
sagacity of their guide, in order to diminish the marks of their 
trail, if, haply, the Canadian savages should be lurking so far 
in advance of their army. For many minutes the intricacy of 
the route admitted of no further dialogue; after which they 
emerged from the broad border of underbrush which grew 
along the line of the highway, and entered under the high but 
dark arches of the forest. Here their progress was less inter- 
rupted ; and the instant the guide perceived that the females 
could command their steeds, he moved on, at a pace between a 


* In the state of Rhode Island there is a bay called Narraganset, so named after 
a powerful tribe of Indians, which formerly dwelt on its banks. Accident, or one 
of those unaccountable freaks which nature sometimes plays in the animal world, 
gave rise to a breed of horses which were once well known in America by the name 
of the Narragansets. They were small, commonly of the color called sorrel in Ame- 
rica, and distinguished by their habit of pacing. Horses of this race were, and are 
still, in much request as saddle horses, on account of their hardiness and the case of 
their movements. As they were also sure of foot, the Narragansets were greatly 
sought for by females who were obliged to travel over the roots and holes in tho 
^ new countries.” 


26 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


trot and a walk, and at a rate which kept the sure-footed and 
peculiar animals they rode, at a fast yet easy amble. The 
youth had turned to speak to the dark-eyed Cora, when the 
distant sounds of horses’ hoofs, clattering over the roots of the 
broken way in his rear, caused him to check his charger ; and, 
as his companions drew their reins at the same instant, the 
V whole party came to a halt, in order to obtain an explanation 
of the unlooked for interruption. 

In a few moments a colt was seen gliding, like a fallow deer, 
amongst the straight trunks of the pines ; and, in another in- 
stant, the person of the ungainly man, described in the preced- 
ing chapter, came into view, with as much rapidity as he could 
excite his meagre beast to endure without coming to an open 
rupture. Until now this personage had escaped the observation 
of the travellers. If he possessed the power to arrest any 
wandering eye when exhibiting the glories of his altitude on 
foot, his equestrian graces were still more likely to attract atten- 
tion. Notwithstanding a constant application of his one armed 
heel to the flanks of the mare, the most confirmed gait that he 
could establish was a Canterbury gallop with the hind legs, in 
which those more forward assisted for doubtful moments, 
though generally content to maintain a lopeing trot. Perhaps 
the rapidity of the changes from one of these paces to the other 
created an optical illusion, which might thus magnify the 
powers of the beast ; for it is certain that Heyward, who pos- 
sessed a true eye for the merits of a horse, was unable, with his 
utmost ingenuity, to decide by what sort of movement his 
pursuer worked his sinuous way on his footsteps with such 
persevering hardihood. 

The industry and movements of the ‘rider were not less re- 
markable than those of the ridden. At each change in the evo- 
lutions of the latter, the former raised his tall person in the 
stirrups ; producing, in this manner, by the undue elongation of 
his legs, such sudden growths and diminishings of the stature, as 
baffled every conjecture that might be made as to his dimen- 
sions. If to this be added the fact that, in consequence of the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


27 


cx parte application of the spur, one side of the mare appeared 
to journey faster than the other ; and that the aggrieved flank 
was resolutely indicated by unremitted flourishes of a bushy 
tail, we finish the picture of both horse and man. 

The frown which had gathered around the handsome, open, 
and manly brow of Heyward, gradually relaxed, and his lips 
curled into a slight smile, as he regarded the stranger. Alice 
made no very powerful effort to control her merriment ; and 
even the dark thoughtful eye of Cora lighted with a humor 
that, it would seem, the habit, rather than the nature, of its 
mistress repressed. 

“ Seek you any here ?” demanded Heyward, when the other 
had arrived sufficiently nigh to abate his speed ; “ I trust you 
are no messenger of evil tidings.” 

“ Even so,” replied the stranger, making diligent use of his 
triangular castor, to produce a circulation in the close air of the 
woods, and leaving his hearers in doubt to which of the young 
man’s questions he responded ; when, however, he had cooled 
his face, and recovered his breath, he continued, “ I hear you are 
riding to William Henry ; as I am journeying thitherward my- 
self, I concluded good company would seem consistent to the 
wishes of both parties.” 

“ You appear to possess the privilege of a casting vote,” re- 
turned Heyward : “ we are three, whilst you have consulted no 
one but yourself.” 

“ Even so. The first point to be obtained is to know one’s 
own mind. Once sure of that, and where women are concerned 
it is not easy, the next is, to act up to the decision. I have 
endeavored to do both, and here I am.” 

“ If you journey to the lake, you have mistaken your route,” 
said Heyward, haughtily ; “ the highway thither is at least half 
a mile behind you.” 

“ Even so,” returned the stranger, nothing daunted by this 
cold reception; “I have tarried at ‘Edward’ a week, and 1 
should be dumb not to have inquired the road I was to 
journey ; and i^ dumb there would be an end to my calling.” 


28 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

After simpering in a small way, like one whose modesty pro- 
hibited a more open expression of his admiration of a witticism 
that was perfectly unintelligible to his hearers, he continued, 
“ It is not prudent for any one of my profession to be too 
familiar with those he has to instruct ; for which reason I follow 
not the line of the army : besides which, I conclude that a 
gentleman of your character has the best judgment in matters 
of wayfaring ; I have therefore decided to join company, in 
order that the ride may be made agreeable, and partake of 
social communion ” 

“ A most arbitrary, if not a hasty decision !” exclaimed Hey- 
^\ard, undecided whether to give vent to his growing anger, or 
to laugh in the .other’s face. “ But you speak of instruction, 
and of a profession ; are you an adjunct to the provincial corps, 
as a master of the noble science of defence and offence ; or, per- 
haps, you are one who draws lines and angles, under the pre- 
tence of expounding the mathematics?” 

The stranger regarded his interrogator a moment, in wonder; 
and then, losing every mark of self-satisfaction in an expression 
of solemn humility, he answered : 

“ Of offence, I ho})e there is none, to either party : of defence, 
I make none — by God’s good mercy, having committed no pal- 
pable sin since last entreating his pardoning grace. I under- 
stand not your allusions about lines and angles ; and I leave 
expounding to those who have been called and set apart for 
that holy office. I lay claim to no higher gift than a small 
insight into the glorious art of petitioning and thanksgiving, as 
practised in psalmody.” 

“ The man is, most manifestly, a disciple of Apollo,” cried the 
amused Alice, “ and I take him under my own especial protec- 
lion. Nay, throw aside that frown, Heyward, and in pity to 
my longing ears, suffer him to journey in our train. Besides,” 
she added, in a low and hurried voice, casting a glance at the 
distant Cora, who slowly followed the footsteps of their silent 
but sullen guide, “ it may be a friend added to our strength, in 
time of need.” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANSc 


29 


“ Think you, Alice, that I would trust those I love by this 
secret path, did I imagine such need could happen ?” 

“Nay, nay, I think not of it now; but this strange man 
amuses me ; and if he ‘ hath music in his soul,’ let us not churl- 
ishly reject his company.” She pointed persuasively along the 
path with her riding-whip, while their eyes met in a look which 
the young man lingered a moment to prolong ; then yielding to 
her gentle influence, he clapped his spurs into his charger, and 
in a few bounds was again at the side of Cora. 

“ I am glad to encounter thee, friend,” continued the maiden, 
waving her hand to the stranger to proceed, as she urged her 
Narraganset to renew its amble. “Partial relatives have 
almost persuaded me that I am not entirely worthless in a duet 
myself ; and we may enliven our wayfaring by indulging in out 
favorite pursuit. It might be of signal advantage to one, ignorant 
as I, to hear the opinions and experience of a master in the art.” 

“ It is refreshing both to the spirits and to the body to indulge 
in psalmody, in befitting seasons,” returned the master of song, 
unhesitatingly complying with her intimation to follow ; “ and 
nothing would relieve the mind more than such a consoling 
communion. But four parts are altogether necessary to the 
perfection of melody. You have all the manifestations of a soft 
and rich treble ; I can, by especial aid, carry a full tenor to the 
highest letter ; but we lack counter and bass ! Yon officer of 
the king, who hesitated to admit me to his company, might fill 
the latter, if one may judge from the intonations of his voice in 
common dialogue.” 

“ Judge not too rashly from hasty and deceptive appearances,” 
said the lady, smiling ; “ though Major Heyward can assume such 
deep notes on occasion, believe me, his natural tones are better 
fitted for a mellow tenor than the bass you heard.” 

“Is he, then, much practised in the art of psalmody?” do 
manded her simple companion. 

Alice felt disposed to laugh, though she succeeded in sup- 
pressing her merriment, ere she answered — 

“ I apprehend that he is rather addicted to profane song. 


30 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


The chances of a soldier’s life are but little fitted for the encou- 
ragement of more sober inclinations.” 

“ Man’s voice is given to him, like his other talents, to be used, 
and not to be abused. None can say they have ever known me 
neglect my gifts ! I am thankful that, though my boyhood 
may be said to have been set apart, like the youth of the royal 
David, for the purposes of music, no syllable of rude verse has 
ever profaned my lips.” 

“ You have, then, limited your ejQforts to sacred song ?” 

“ Even so. As the psalms of David exceed all other language, 
so does the psalmody that has been fitted to them by the divines 
and sages of the land, surpass all vain poetry. Happily, I may 
say that I utter nothing but the thoughts and the wishes ot 
the King of Israel himself; for though the times may call foi 
some slight changes, yet does this version which we use in the 
colonies of New England, so much exceed all other versions, 
that, by its richness, its exactness, and its spiritual simplicity, it 
approacheth, as near as may be, to the great work of the 
inspired writer. I never abide in any place, sleeping or waking, 
without an example of this gifted work. ’Tis the six-and-twen- 
tieth edition, promulgated at Boston, Anno Domini 1744 ; and 
is entitled, ‘ The Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs of the Old 
and New Testaments; faithfully translated into English Metre, 
for the Use, Edification, and Comfort of the Saints, in Public 
and Private, especially in New England.’” 

During this eulogium on the rare production of his native 
poets, the stranger had drawn the book from his pocket, and 
fitting a pair of iron-rimmed spectacles to his nose, opened the 
volume with a care and veneration suited to its sacred purposes. 
Then, without circumlocution or apology, first pronouncing the 
word “ Standish,” and placing the unknown engine, already 
described, to his mouth, from which he drew a high, shrill sound, 
that was followed by an octave below, from his own voice, he 
commenced singing the following words, in full, sweet, ^ and 
melodious tones, that set the music, the poetry, and even the 
uneasy motion of his ill-trained beast at defiance ; 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


31 


“ How good it is, O see. 

And how it please th well. 

Together, e’en in unity, 

For brethren so to dwell. 

It’s like the choice ointment. 

From the head to th’ beard did go : 

Down Aaron’s beard, that downward went, 

His garment’s skirts unto.” 

The delivery of these skilful rhymes was accompanied, on the 
part of the stranger, by a regular rise and fall of his right hand, 
which terminated at the descent, by suffering the fingers to 
dwell a moment on the leaves of the little volume ; and on the 
ascent, by such a flourish of the member as none but the initiat- 
ed may ever hope to imitate. It would seem that long prac- 
tice had rendered this manual accompaniment necessary ; for it 
did not cease until the preposition which the poet had selected 
for the close of his verse, had been duly delivered like a word 
of two syllables. 

Such an innovation on the silence and retirement of the forest 
could not fail to enlist the ears of those who journeyed at so 
short a distance in advance. The Indian muttered a few words 
in broken English to Heyward, who, in his turn, spoke to the 
stranger ; at once interrupting, and, for the time, closing his 
musical efforts. 

“ Though we are not in danger, common prudence would 
teach us to journey through this wilderness in as quiet a manner 
as possible. You will, then, pardon me, Alice, should I dimi- 
nish your enjoyments, by requesting this gentleman to postpone 
his chant until a safer opportunity.” 

“ You will diminish them, indeed,” returned the arch girl, 
“ for never did I hear a more unworthy conjunction of execution 
and language, than that to which I have been listening ; and I 
was far gone in a learned inquiry into the causes of such an 
unfitness between sound and sense, when you broke the charm 
of my musings by that bass of yours, Duncan !” 

“ I know not what you call my bass,” said Heyward, piqued 
at her remark, “ but I know that your safety, and that of Cora, 
is far dearer to me than could be any orchestra of Handels 


32 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


music.” He paused and turned Lis head quickly towards a 
thicket, and then bent his eyes suspiciously on their guide, who 
continued his steady pace, in undisturbed gravity. The young 
man smiled to himself, for he believed he had mistaken some 
shining berry of the woods for the glistening eyeballs of a prowl- 
ing savage, and he rode forward, continuing the conversation 
which had been interrupted by the passing thought. 

Major Heyward was mistaken only in suftering his youthful 
and generous pride to suppress his active watchfulness. The 
cavalcade had not long passed, before the branches of the bushes 
that formed the thicket were cautiously moved asunder, and a 
human visage, as fiercely wild as savage art and unbridled pas- 
sions could make it, peered out on the retiring footsteps of the 
travellers. A gleam of exultation shot across the darkly painted 
lineaments of the inhabitant of the forest, as he traced the route 
of his intended victims, who rode unconsciously onward ; the 
light and graceful- forms of the females waving among the 
trees, in the curvatures of their path, followed at each bend by 
the manly figure of Heyward, until, finally, the shapeless person 
of the singing master was concealed behind the numberless 
trunks of trees, that rose, in dark lines, in the intermediate 
space. 


THE LAST OF THE M O H I C A If S . 


83 


CHAPTER III. 

Before these fields were shorn and till’d, 

Full to the brim our rivers flow’d ; 

The melody of waters fill’d 
The fresh and boundless wood ; 

And torrents dash’d, and rivulets play’d, 

And fountains spouted in the shade. 

Bryant, 


Leaving the unsuspecting Heyward and his confiding 
companions to penetrate still deeper into a forest that contained 
such treacherous inmates, we must use an author’s privilege, and 
shift the scene a few miles to the westward of the place where 
we have last seen them. 

On that day, two men were lingering on the banks of a small 
but rapid stream, within an hour’s journey of the encampment 
of Webb, like those who awaited the appearance of an absent 
person, or the approach of some expected event. The vast 
canopy of woods spread itself to the margin of the river, over- 
hanging the water, and shadowing its dark current with a deeper 
hue. The rays of the sun were beginning to grow less fierce, 
and the intense heat of the day was lessened, as the cooler vapors 
of the springs and fountains rose above their leafy beds, and 
rested in the atmosphere. Still that breathing silence, which 
marks the drowsy sultriness of an American landscape in July, 
pervaded the secluded spot, interrupted only by the low voices 
of the men, the occasional and lazy tap of a woodpecker, the 
discordant cry of some gaudy jay, or a swelling on the ear, from 
the dull roar of a distant waterfall. 

These feeble and broken sounds were, however, too familiar 
to the foresters, to draw their attention from the more interesting 
matter of their dialogue. .While one of these loiterers showed 

2 ^ 


34 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

the red skin and wild accoutrements of a native of the woods, 
the other exhibited, through the mask of his rude and nearly 
savage equipments, the brighter, though sun-burnt and long- 
faded complexion of one who might claim descent from a 
European parentage. The former was seated on the end of a 
mossy log, in a posture that permitted him to heighten the effect 
of his earnest language, by the calm but expressive gestures of 
an Indian engaged in debate. His body, which was nearly 
naked, presented a terrific emblem of death, drawn in inter- 
mingled colors of white and black. His closely shaved head, 
on which no other hair than the well known and chivalrous 
scalping tuft"^' was preserved, was without ornament of any 
kind, with the exception of a solitary eagle’s plume, that crossed 
his crown, and depended over the left shoulder. A tomahawk 
and scalping-knife, of English manufacture, were in his girdle ; 
while a short military rifle, of that sort with which the policy of 
the whites armed their savage allies, lay carelessly across his 
bare and sinewy knee. The expanded chest, full formed limbs, 
and grave countenance of this warrior, would denote that he had 
reached the vigor of his days, though no symptoms of decay 
appeared to have yet weakened his manhood. 

The frame of the white man, judging by such parts as were 
not concealed by his clothes, was like that of one who had known 
hardships and exertion from his earliest youth. His person, 
though muscular, was rather attenuated than full ; but every 
nerve and muscle appeared strung and indurated by unremitted 
exposure arid toil. He wore a hunting-shirt of forest-green, 
fringed with faded yellowf, and a suinmer cap of skins which 


♦ The North American warrior caused the hair to be plucked from his whole 
body ; a small tuft, only, was left on the crown of his head, in order that his enemy 
might avail himself of it, in wrenching off the scalp in the event of his fall. The 
Bcalp was the only admissible trophy of victory. Thus, it was deemed mere 
important to obtain the scalp than to kill the man. Some tribes lay great stress on 
the honor of striking a dead body. These practices have nearly disappeared 
among the Indians of the Atlantic states. 

t The hunting-shirt is a picturesque smock-frock, being shorter, and ornaqaented 
with fringes and tassels. The colors are intended to imitate the hues of the wood, 
with a view to concealment. Many corps of American riflemen have been thus 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


35 


had been shorn of their fur. He also bore a knife in a girdle 
of wampum, like that which confined the scanty garments of the 
Indian, but no tomahawk. His moccasins were ornamented 
after the gay fashion of the natives, while the only part of his 
under dre^ which appeared below the hunting frock, was a pair 
of buckskin leggings, that laced at the sides, and which were 
gartered above the knees, with the sinews of a deer. A pouch 
and horn completed his personal accoutrements, though a rifle 
of great length,* which the theory of the more ingenious whites 
had taught them was the most dangerous of all fire-arms, leaned 
against a neighboring sapling. The eye of the hunter, or scout, 
whichever he might be, was small, quick, keen, and restless, 
roving while he spoke, on every side of him, as if in quest of 
game, or distrusting the sudden approach of some lurking 
enemy. Notwithstanding these symptoms of habitual sus- 
picion, his countenance was not only without guile, but at the 
moment at which he is introduced, it was charged with an 
expression of sturdy honest}^ 

Even your traditions make the case in my favor, Chingach- 
gook,” he said, speaking in the tongue which was known to all 
the natives who formerly inhabited the country between the 
Hudson and the Potomack, and of which we shall give a free 
translation for the benefit of the reader ; endeavoring, at the 
same time, to preserve some of the peculiarities, both of the 
individual and of the language. “Your fathers came from the 
setting sun, crossed the big river,f fought the people of the 
country, and took the land ; and mine came from the red sky 
of the morning, over the salt lake, and did their work much 
after the fashion that had been set them by yours ; then let God 
judge the matter between us, and friends spare their words !” 


Mtired ; and the dress is one of the most striking of modern times. The hunting- 
shirt is frequently white. 

* The rifle of the army is short; that of the hunter is always long, 
t The Mississippi. The scout alludes to a tradition which is very popular among 
the tribes of the Atlantic states. Evidence of their Asiatic origin is deduced from 
the circumstances, though great uncertainty hangs over the whole history of the 
Indians. 


36 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ My fathers fought with the naked red man !” returned the 
Indian, sternly, in the same language. “ Is there no difference. 
Hawk-eye, between Ihe stone-headed arrow of the warrior, and 
the leaden bullet with which you kill ?” 

“ There is reason in an Indian, though nature has made him 
with a red skin !” said the white man, shaking his head like one 
on whom such an appeal to his justice was not thrown away. 
For a moment he appeared to be conscious of having the worst 
of the argument, then rallying again, he answered the objection 
of his antagonist in the best manner his limited information 
would allow : “ I am no scholar, and I care not who knows it ; 
but judging from what I have seen, at deer chases and squirrel 
hunts, of the sparks below, I should think a rifle in the hands of 
their grandfathers was not so dangerous as a hickory bow and a 
good flint-head might be, if drawn with Indian judgment, and 
sent by an Indian eye.” 

“You have the story told by your fathers,” returned the 
other, coldly waving his hand. “ What say your old men ? do 
they tell the young warriors, that the pale faces met the red 
men, painted for war and armed with the stone hatchet and 
wooden gun ?” 

“I am not a jwejudiced man, nor one who vaunts himself on 
his natural privileges, though the worst enemy I have on earth, 
and he is an Iroquois, daren’t deny that I am genuine white,” 
the scout replied, surveying, with secret satisfaction, the faded 
color of his bony and sinewy hand ; “ and I am willing to own 
that my people have many ways, of which, as an honest man, 
I can’t approve. It is one of their customs to write in books 
what they have done and seen, instead of telling them in their 
villages, where the lie can be given to the face of a cowardly 
boaster, and the brave soldier can call on his comrades to witness 
for the truth of his words. In consequence of this bad fashion, 
a man who is too conscientious to misspend his days among tho 
women, in learning the names of black marks, may never hear 
of the deeds of his fathers, nor feel -a pride in striving to outdo 
them. For myself, I conclude all the Bumppos could shoot , 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


37 


for I have a natural turn with a rifle, which must have been 
handed down from generation to generation, as, our holy 
commandments tell us, all good and evil gifts are bestowed ; 
though I should be loth to answer for other people in such 
a matter. But every story has its two sides: so I ask you, 
Chingachgook, what passed, according to the traditions of the 
red men, when our fathers first met ?” 

A silence of a minute succeeded, during which the Indian 
sat mute ; then, full of the dignity of his office, he commenced 
his brief tale, with a solemnity that served to heighten its ap- 
pearance of truth. 

“ Listen, Hawk-eye, and your ear shall drink no lie. ’Tis 
what my fathers have said, and what the Mohicans have done.” 
He hesitated a single instant, and bending a cautious glance 
towards his companion, he continued, in a manner that was 
divided between interrogation and assertion — “Does not this 
stream at our feet run towards the summer, until its waters 
grow salt, and the current flows upward ?” 

“ It can’t be denied that your traditions tell you true in both 
these matters,” said the white man ; “ for I have been there, and 
have seen them ; though, why water, which is so sweet in the 
shade, should become bitter in the sun, is an alteration for 
which I have never been able to account.” 

“ And the current !” demanded the Indian, who expected 
his reply with that sort of interest that a man feels in the con- 
firmation of testimony, at which he marvels even while he re- 
spects it ; “ the fathers of Chingachgook have not lied !” 

“ The holy Bible is not more true, and that is the truest 
thing in nature. They call this up-stream current the tide, 
which is a thing soon explained, and clear enough. Six hours the 
waters run in, and six hours they run out, and the reason is this : 
when there is higher water in the sea than in the river, they run 
in until the river gets to be highest, and then it runs out again.’' 

“ The waters in the woods, and on the great lakes, run down- 
ward until they lie like my hand,” said the Indian, stretching 
the limb horizontally before him, “ and then they run no more.” 


38 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ No honest man will deny it,” said the scout, a little nettled 
at the implied distrust of his explanation of the mystery of the 
tides ; “ and I grant that it is true on the small scale, and 
where the land is level. But everything depends on what 
scale you look at things. Now, on the small scale, the ’arth is 
level ; but on the large scale it is round. In this manner, pools 
and ponds, and even the great fresh* water lakes, may be stag- 
nant, as you and I both know they are, having seen them ; but 
when you come to spread water over a great tract, like the sea, 
where the earth is round, how in reason can the water be quiet ? 
You might as well expect the river to lie still on the brink of 
those black rocks a mile above us, though your own ears tell 
you that it is tumbling over them at this very moment !” 

If unsatisfied by the philosophy of his companion, the Indian 
was far too dignified to b stray his unbelief. He listened like 
one who was convinced, and resumed his narrative in his former 
solemn manner. 

“We came from the place where the sun is hid at night, 
over great plains where the buffaloes live, until we reached the 
big river. There we fought the Alligewi, till the ground was 
red with their blood. FrQm the banks of the big river to the 
shores of the salt lake, there was none to meet us. The 
Maquas followed at a distance. We said the country should 
be ours from the place where the water runs up no longer on 
this stream to a river twenty suns’ journey toward the summer. 
The land we had taken like warriors we kept like men. We 
drove the Maquas into the woods with the bears. They only 
tasted salt at the licks ; they drew no fish from the great lake : 
we threw them the bones ” 

“ All this I have heard and believe,” said the white man, 
observing that the Indian paused : “ but it was long before the 
English came into the country.” 

“ A pine grew then where this chestnut now stands. The first 
pale-faces who came among us spoke no English. They came 
in a large canoe, when my fathere had buried the tomahawk 
with the red men around them. Then, Hawk-eye,” he con- 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


39 


tinned, betraying his deep emotion, only by permitting his 
voice to fall to those low, guttural tones, which render his 
language, as spoken at times, so very musical ; “ then. Hawk-eye, 
we were one people, and we were happy. The salt lake gave 
us its fish, the wood its deer, and the air its birds. We took 
wives who bore us children ; we worshipped the Great Spirit ; 
and we kept the Maquas beyond the sound of our songs of 
triumph !” 

“ Know you anything of your own family at that time ?” de- 
manded the white. “ But you are a just man, for an Indian ! 
and, as I suppose you hold their gifts, your fathers must have 
been brave warriors, and wise men at the council fire.’’ 

“ My tribe is the grandfather of nations, but I am an un- 
mixed man. The blood of chiefs is in my veins, where it must 
stay for ever. The Dutch landed, and gave my people the fire- 
water ; they drank until the heavens and the earth seemed to 
meet, and they foolishly thought they had found the Great 
Spirit. Then they parted with their land. Foot by foot, they 
were driven back from the shores, until I, that am a chief and a 
Sagamore, have never seen the sun shine but through the trees, 
and have never visited the graves of mf fathers !” 

“ Graves bring solemn feelings over the mind,” returned the 
scout, a good deal touched at the calm suffering of his com- 
panion ; “ and they often aid a man in his good intentions ; 
though, for myself, I expect to leave my own bones unburied, 
to bleach in the woods, or to be torn asunder by the wolves. 
But where are to be found those of your race who came to 
their kin in the Delaware country, so many summers since ?” 

“ Where are the blossoms of those summers ! — fallen, one by 
one : so all of my family departed, each in his turn, to the land 
of spirits. 1 am on the hill-top, and must go down into the 
valley ; and when Uncas follows in my footsteps, there will no 
longer be any of the blood of the Sagamores, for my boy is the 
last of the Mohicans.” 

“ Uncas is here !” said another voice, in the same, soft, gut- 
tural tones, near his elbow ; “ who speaks to Uncas 2” 


40 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


The white man loosened his knife in his leathern sheath, and 
made an involuntary movement of the hand towards his rifle, at 
this sudden interruption; but the Indian sat composed, and 
witliout turning his head at the unexpected sounds. 

At the next instant, a youthful warrior passed between them, 
with a noiseless step, and seated himself on the bank of the 
rapid stream. No exclamation of surprise escaped the father, 
nor was any question asked, or reply given, for several minutes ; 
each appearing to await the moment when he might speak, 
without betraying womanish curiosity or childish impatience. 
The white man seemed to take counsel from their customs, and, 
relinquishing his grasp of the rifle, he also remained silent and 
reserved. At length Chingachgook turned his eyes slowly to- 
wards his son, and demanded — 

“ Do the Maquas dare to leave the print of their moccasins in 
these woods ?” 

“ I have been on their trail,” replied the young Indian, “ and 
know that they number as many as the fingers of my two hands ; 
but they lie hid like cowards.” 

“ The thieves are out-lying for scalps and plunder !” said the 
white man, whom we shall call Hawk-eye, after the manner of 
his companions. “ That busy Frenchman, Montcalm, will send 
his spies into our very camp, but he will know what road we 
travel !” 

“ ’Tis enough !” returned the father, glancing his eye towards 
the setting sun ; “ they shall be driven like deer from their 
bushes. Hawk-eye, let us eat to-night, and show the Maquas 
that we are men to-morrow.” 

“ I am as ready to do the one as the other : but to fight the 
Iroquois ’tis necessary to find the skulkers ; and to eat, ’tis ne- 
cessary to get the game — talk of the devil and he will come ; 
there is a pair of the biggest antlers I have seen this season, 
moving the bushes below the hill! Now, Uncas,” he con- 
tinued in a half whisper, and laughing with a kind of inward 
sound, like one who had learnt to be watchful, “ I will bei my 
charger three times full of powder, against a foot of wampum. 


Tins LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


41 


that I take him atwix the eyes, and nearer to the right than to 
the left.” 

“ It cannot be !” said the young Indian, springing to his feet 
vrith youthful eagerness ; “ all but the tips of his horns are 
hid !” 

“ He’s a boy !” said the white man, shaking his head while 
he spoke, and addressing the father. “ Does he think when a 
hunter sees a part of the creatur’, he can’t tell where the rest of 
him should be !” 

Adjusting his rifle, he was about to make an exhibition of 
that skill, on which he so much valued himself, when the 
wari’ior struck up the piece with his hand, saying, 

“ Hawk-eye ! will you fight the Maquas ?” 

“ These Indians know the nature of the woods, as it might be 
by instinct !” returned the scout, dropping his rifle, and turning 
away like a man who was convinced of his error. “ I must leave 
the buck to your arrow, Uncas, or we may kill a deer for them 
thieves, the Iroquois, to eat.” 

The instant the father seconded this intimation by an expres- 
sive gesture of the hand, Uncas threw himself on the ground, 
and approached the animal with wary movements. When 
within a few yards of the cover, he fitted an arrow to his bow 
with the utmost care, while the antlers moved, as if their owner 
snuffed an enemy in the tainted air. In another moment the 
twang of the cord was heard, a white streak was seen glancing 
into the bushes, and the wounded buck plunged from the cover, 
to the very feet of his hidden enemy. Avoiding the horns of 
the infuriated animal, Uncas darted to his side, and passed his 
knife across the throat, when bounding to the edge of the river 
it fell, dyeing the waters with its blood. 

“ ’Twas done with Indian skill,” said the scout, laughing in- 
wardly, but with vast satisfaction ; “ and ’twas a pretty sight to 
behold ! Though an arrow is a near shot, and needs a knife to 
finish the work.” 

“ Hugh !” ejaculated his companion, turning quickly, like a 
hound who scented game. 


42 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ By the Lord, there is a drove of them !” exclaimed the 
scout, whose eyes began to glisten with the ardor of his usual 
occupation ; “ if they come within range of a bullet I will drop 
one, though the whole Six Nations should be lurking within 
sound ! What do you hear, Chingachgook ? for to my ears the 
woods are dumb.” 

“ There is but one deer, and he is dead,” said the Indian, 
bending his body till his ear nearly touched the earth. “ I hear 
the sounds of feet !” 

“ Perhaps the wolves have driven the buck to shelter, and are 
following on his trail.” 

“ No. The horses of white men are coming !” returned the 
other, raising himself wdth dignity, and resuming his seat on 
the log with his former composure. “ Hawk-eye, they are your 
brothers ; speak to them.” 

“ That will I, and in English that the king needn’t be 
ashamed to answer,” returned the hunter, speaking in the lan- 
guage of which he boasted ; “ but I see nothing, nor do I hear 
the sounds of man or beast ; ’tis strange that an Indian should 
understand white sounds better than a man w'ho, his very ene- 
mies will own, has no cross in his blood, although he may have 
lived with the red skins long enough to be suspected ! Ha ! 
there goes something like the cracking of a dry stick, too — now 
I hear the bushes move — yes, yes, there is a trampling that I 
mistook for the falls — and — but here they come themselves ; 
Go<i keep th<^m from the Iroquois !” 


THE 1.AST OF THE MOHICANS, 


48 


CHAPTER IV. 


Well, go thy way ; thou shalt not from this grove 
Till I torment thee for this injury. 

Midsum. Night’s Dream. 


The words were still in the mouth of the scout, when the 
leader of the party, whose approaching footsteps had caught the 
vigilant ear of the Indian, came openly into view. A beaten path, 
such as those made by the periodical passage of the deer, wound 
through a little glen at no great distance, and struck the river 
at the point where the white man and his red companions had 
posted themselves. Along this track the travellers, who had 
produced a surprise so unusual in the depths of the forest, ad- 
vanced slowly towards the hunter, who was in front of his asso- 
ciates, in readiness to receive them. 

“ Who comes V demanded the scout, throwing his rifle care- 
lessly across his left arm, and keeping the fore-finger of his right 
hand on the trigger, though he avoided all appearance of 
menace in the act — “ Who comes hither, among the beasts and 
dangers of the wilderness ?” 

“ Believers in religion, and friends to the law and to the 
king,” returned he who rode foremost. “ Men who have jour- 
neyed since the rising sun, in the shades of this forest, without 
nourishment, and are sadly tired of their wayfaring.” 

“ You are, then, lost,” interrupted the hunter, “ and have 
found how helpless ’tis not to know whether to take the right 
hand or the left ?” 

“ Even so ; sucking babes are not more dependent on those 
who guide them than we who are of larger growth, and who 
may now be said to possess the stature without the knowledge 


44 


THE LAST OF THE MOHlOATfS. 


of men. Know you the distance to a post of the crown called 
William Henry ?” 

“ Hoot !” shouted the scout, who did not spare his open 
laughter, though, instantly checking the dangerous sounds, he 
indulged his merriment at less risk of being overheard by any 
lurking enemies. “ You are as much off the scent as a hound 
would be, with Horicaii atwixt him and the deer ! William 
Henry, man ! if you are friends to the king, and have business 
with the army, your better way would be to follow the river 
down to Edward, and lay the matter before Webb; who tarries 
there, instead of pushing into the defiles, and driving this saucy 
Frenchman back across Champlain, into his den again.” 

Before the stranger could make any reply to this unex- 
pected proposition, another horseman dashed the bushes aside, 
and leaped his charger into the pathway, in front of his com- 
panion. 

“ What, then, may be our distance from Fort Edward ?” 
demanded a new speaker ; “ the place you advise us to seek 
we left this morning, and our destination is the head of the 
lake.” 

“ Then you must have lost your eyesight afore losing your 
way, for the road across the portage is cut to a good two rods, 
and is as grand a path, I calculate, as any that runs into Lon- 
don, or even before the palace of the king himself.” 

“ We will not dispute concerning the excellence of the pas- 
sage,” returned Heyward, smiling ; for, as the reader has antici- 
pated, it was he. “ It is enough, for the present, that we trusted 
to an Indian guide to take us by a nearer, though blinder path, 
and that we are deceived in his knowledge. In plain words, wo 
know not where we are.” 

“ An Indian lost in the woods !” said the scout, shaking his 
head doubtingly ; “ when the sun is scorching the tree tops, and 
the water courses are full ; when the moss on every beech he 
sees, will tell him in which quarter the north star will shine at 
night! The woods are full of deer paths which run to the 
stre;ims and licks, jilaces well known to everybody ; nor have 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


46 


the geese done their flight to the Canada waters altogether I 
’d'is strange that an Indian should be lost atwixt Horican and 
the bend in the river ! Is he a Mohawk ?” 

“ Not by birth, though adopted in that tribe ; I think his 
birth-place was farther north, and he is one of those you call a 
Huron.” 

“ Hugh !” exclaimed the two companions of the scout, who 
had continued until this part of the dialogue, seated immo\able, 
and apparently indiflerent to what passed, but who now sprang 
to their feet with an activity and interest that had evidently 
got the better of their reserve, by surprise. 

“ A Huron !” repeated the sturdy scout, once more shaking 
his head in open distrust ; “ they are a thievish race, nor do I 
care by whom they are adopted ; you can never make anything 
of them but skulks and vagabonds. Since you trusted yourself 
to the care of one of that nation, I only wonder that you have 
not fallen in with more.” 

“ Of that there is little danger, since William Henry is so 
many miles in our front. You forget that I have told you our 
guide is now a Mohawk, and that he serves with our forces as 
a friend.” 

“ And I tdl you that he who is born a Mingo will die a 
Mingo,” I’eturned the other, positively. “ A Mohawk ! No, 
give me a Delaware or a Mohican for honesty ; and when they 
will fight, which they won’t all do, having suffered their cunning 
enemies, the Maquas, to make them women — but when they 
will fight at all, look to a Delaware, or a Mohican, Jbr a 
warrior !” 

“ Enough of this,” said Heyward, impatiently ; “ I wish not 
to inquire into the character of a man that I know, and to 
whom you must be a stranger. You have not yet answered 
my question; what is our distance from the main army at 
Edward ?” 

“ It seems that may depend on who is your guide. One 
would think such a horse as that might get over a good deal 
of ground atwixt sun-up and sun-down.” 


46 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ I wish no contention of idle words with you, friend,” said 
Heyward, curbing his dissatisfied manner, and speaking in a 
more gentle voice ; “ if you will tell me the distance to Fort 
Edward, and conduct me thither, your labor shall not go with- 
out its reward.” 

“ And in so doing, how know I that I don’t guide an enemy, 
and a spy of Montcalm, to the works of the army ? It is not 
every man who can speak the English tongue that is an honest 
subject.” 

“ If you serve with the troops, of whom I judge you to be a 
scout, you should know of such a regiment of the king as the 
60th.” 

“ The 60th ! you can tell me little of the Royal Americans 
that I don’t know, though I do wear a hunting-shirt instead 
of a scarlet jacket.” 

“ Well, then, among other things, you may know the name 
of its major ?” 

“ Its major !” interrupted the hunter, elevating his body like 
one who was proud of his trust. “ If there is a man in the 
country who knows Major Effingham, he stands before you.” 

“ It is a corps which has many majors ; the gentleman you 
name is the senior, but I speak of the junior of them all ; he 
who commands the companies in garrison at William Henry.” 

“ Yes, yes, I have heard that a young gentleman of vast 
riches, from one of the provinces far south, has got the place. 
He is over young, too, to hold such rank, and to be put above 
men iwhose heads are beginning to bleach; and yet they say 
he is a soldier in his knowledge, and a gallant gentleman !” 

“ Whatever he may be, or however he may be qualified foi 
his rank, he now speaks to you, and of course can be no enemy 
to dread.” 

The scout regarded Heyward in surprise, and then lifting his 
cap, he answered, in a tone less confident than before — though 
still expressing doubt — 

“ I have heard a party was to leave the encampment this 
morning, for the lake shore ?” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


47 


“ You Jiave heard the truth ; hut I preferred a nearer route, 
trusting to the knowledge of the Indian I mentioned.’* 

“ And he deceived you, and then deserted ?” 

“ Neither, as I believe ; certainly not the latter, for he is to 
be found in the rear.” 

“ I should like to look at the creatur’ ; if it is a true Iroquois 
I can tell him by his knavish look, and by his paint,” said the 
scout, stepping past the charger of Heyward, and entering the 
path behind the mare of the singing master, whose foal had 
taken advantage of the halt to exact the maternal contribution. 
After shoving aside the bushes, and proceeding a few paces, he 
encountered the females, who awaited the result of the confer- 
ence with anxiety, and not entirely without apprehension. • Be- 
hind these, the runner leaned against a tree, where he stood the 
close examination of the scout with an air unmoved, though 
with a look so dark and savage, that it might in itself excite 
fear. Satisfied with his scrutiny, the hunter soon left him. As 
he repassed the females, he paused a moment to gaze upon 
their beauty, answering to the smile and nod of Alice with a 
look of open pleasure. Thence he went to the side of the 
motherly animal, and spending a minute in a fruitless inquiry 
into the character of her rider, he shook his head and returned 
to Heyward. 

“ A Mingo is a Mingo, and God having made him so, neither 
the Mohawks nor any other tribe can alter him,” he said, when 
he had regained his former position. “ If we were alone, and 
you would leave that noble horse at the mercy of the wolves 
to-night, I could show you the way to Edward, myself, within 
an hour, for it lies only about an hour’s journey hence ; but 
with such ladies in your company ’tis impossible !” 

“ And why ? they are fatigued, but they are quite equal to 
a ride of a few more miles.” 

“ ’Tis a natural impossibility !” repeated the scout ; “ I 
wouldn’t walk a mile in these woods after night gets into 
them, in company with that runner, for the best rifle in the 
colonies. They are fall of outlying Iroquois, and your mongi*el 


48 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Mohawk knows where to find them too well, to be my com- 
panion.” 

“Think you so?” said Heyward, leaning forward in the 
saddle, and dropping his voice nearly to a whisper ; “ I confess 
I have not been without my own suspicions, though I have 
endeavored to conceal them, and affected a confidence I have 
not always felt, on account of my companions. It was because 
I suspected him that I would follow no longer ; making him, 
as you see, follow me.” 

“ I knew he was one of the cheats as soon as I laid eyes on 
him !” returned the scout, placing a finger on his nose, in sign 
of caution. “ The thief is leaning against the foot of the sugar 
sapling, that you can see over them bushes ; his right leg is in 
a line with the bark of the tree, and,” tapping his rifle, “ I can 
take him from where I stand, between the ancle and the knee, 
with a single shot, putting an end to his tramping through the 
woods, for at least a month to come. If I should go back to 
him, the cunning varmint would suspect something, and be 
dodging through the trees like a frightened deer.” 

“ It will not do. He may be innocent, and I dislike the act. 
Though, if I felt confident of his treachery — ” 

“ ’Tis a safe thing to calculate on the knavery of an Iroquois,” 
said the scout, throwing his rifle forward, by a sort of instinctive 
movement. 

“ Hold !” interrupted Heyward, “ it will not do — we must 
think of some other scheme ; — and yet, I have much reason to 
believe the rascal has deceived me.” 

The hunter, who had already abandoned his intention of 
maiming the runner, mused a moment and then made a gesture, 
W'hich instantly brought his two red companions to his side. 
They spoke together earnestly in the Delaware language, though 
in an under tone ; and by the gestures of the white man, which 
were frequently directed towards the top of the sapling, it was 
evident he pointed out the situation of their hidden enemy. 
His companions were not long in comprehending his wishes, 
and laying aside their fire-arms, they parted, taking opposite 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. ' 40 

sides of the path, and burying themselves in the thicket, with 
such cautious movements, that their steps were inaudible. 

“Now, go you back,” said the hunter, speaking again to 
Heyward, “and hold the imp in talk; these Mohicans here 
will take him without breaking his paint.” 

“ Nay,” said Heyward, proudly, “ I will seize him myself.” 

“ Hist ! what could you do, mounted, against an Indian in 
tlie bushes ?” 

“I will dismount.” 

“ And, think you, when he saw one of your feet out of the 
stirrup, he would wait for the other to be free? Whoever 
comes into the woods to deal with the natives, must use Indian 
fashions, if he would wish to prosper in his undertakings. Go, 
then ; talk openly to the miscreant, and seem to believe him 
the truest friend you have on ’arth.” 

Heyward prepared to comply, though with strong disgust 
at the nature of the office he was compelled to execute. Each 
moment, however, pressed upon him a conviction of the critical 
situation in which he had suffered his invaluable trust to be 
involved through his own confidence. The sun had already 
disappeared, and the woods, suddenly deprived of his light,^ 
were assuming a dusky hue, which keenly reminded him that 
the hour the savage usually chose for his most barbarous and 
remorseless acts of vengeance or hostility, was speedily drawing 
near. Stimulated by apprehension, he left the scout, who 
immediately entered into a loud conversation with the stranger 
that had so unceremoniously enlisted himself in the party of 
travellers that morning. In passing his gentler companions 
Heyward uttered a few words of encouragement, and w'as 
pleased to find that, though fatigued with the exercise of the 
day, they appeared to entertain no suspicion that their present 
embarrassment was other than the result of accident. Giving 
them reason to believe he w^as merely employed in a consulta- 
tion concerning the future route, he spurred his charger, and 

* The scene of this tale was in the 42d degree of latitude, where the ilight is 
never of long continuunc-e. 


3 


60 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


drew the reins again, when the animal had carried him within 
a few yards of the place where the sullen runner still stood, 
leaning against the tree. 

“ You may see, Magua,” he said, endeavoring to assume an 
air of freedom and confidence, “ that the night is closing around 
us, and yet we are no nearer to William Henry than when we 
left the encampment of Webb with the rising sun. You have 
missed the way, nor have I been more fortunate. But, happily, 
we have fallen in with a hunter, he whom you hear talking to 
the singer, that is acquainted with the deer-paths and by-ways 
of the woods, and who promises to lead us to a place where we 
may rest securely till the morning.” 

The Indian riveted his glowing eyes on Heyward as he 
asked, in his imperfect English, “ Is he alone ?” 

“ Alone !” hesitatingly answered Heyward, to whom decep- 
tion was too new to be assumed without embarrassment. 
“ Oh ! not alone, surely, Magua, for you know that we are with 
him.” 

“ Then le Renard Subtil will go,” returned the runner, coolly 
raising his little wallet from the place where it had lain at his 
feet ; “ and the pale faces will see none but their own color.” 

“ Go ! Whom call you le Renard ?” 

“’Tis the name his Canada fathers have given to Magua,” 
returned the runner, with an air that manifested his pride at 
the distinction. “ Night is the same as day to le Subtil, when 
Munro waits for him.” 

“ And what account will le Renard give the chief of William 
Henry concerning his daughters ? Will he dare to tell* the 
hot-blooded Scotsman that his children are left without a guide, 
though Magua promised to be one ?” 

“ Though the grey head has a loud voice, and a long arm, 
le Renard will not hear him, or feel him, in the woods.” 

“ But what will the Mohawks say ? They will make him 
petticoats, and bid him stay in the wigwam with fSie women, 
for he is no longer to be trusted with the business of a man.” 

“ Le Subtil knows the path to the great lakes, and he can 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


61 


find the bones of his fathers,” was the answer of the unmoved 
runner. 

“ Enough, Magua,” said Heyward ; “ are we not friends ? 
Why should there be bitter words between us ? Munro has 
promised you a gift for your services when performed, and I 
shall be your debtor for another. Rest your weary limbs, then, 
and open your wallet to eat. We have a few moments to 
spare ; let us not waste them in talk like wrangling women. 
When the ladies are refreshed we will proceed.” 

“ The pale faces make themselves dogs to their women,” 
muttered the Indian, in his native language, “ and when they 
want to eat, their warriors must lay aside the tomahawk to feed 
their laziness.” 

“ What say you, Renard 

“ Le Subtil says it is good.” 

The Indian then fastened his eyes keenly on the open coun- 
tenance 3f Heyward, but meeting his glance, he turned them 
quickly away, and seating himself deliberately on the ground, 
he drew forth the remnant of some former repast, and began to 
eat, though not without first bending his looks slowly and 
cautiously around him. 

“ This is w’ell,” continued Heyward ; “ and le Renard will 
have strength and sight to find the path in the morning ;” — he 
paused, for sounds like the snapping of a dried stick, and the 
rustling of leaves, rose from the adjacent bushes, but recollect- 
ing himself instantly, he continued — “ we must be moving before 
the sun is seen, or Montcalm may lie in our path, and shut us 
out from the fortress.” 

The hand of Magua dropped from his mouth to his side, and 
though his eyes were fastened on the ground, his head was 
turned aside, his nostrils expanded, and his ears seemed even 
to stand more erect than usual, giving to him the appeai’ance 
of a statue that was made to represent intense attention. 

Heyward, who watched his movements with a vigilant eye, 
carelessly extricated one of his feet from the stirrup, while ho 
passed a hand towards the bear-skin covering of his holsters. 


52 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Every effort to detect the point most regarded by the runner 
was completely frustrated by the tremulous glances of his 
organs, which seemed not to rest a single instant on any parti- 
cular object, and which, at the same time, could be hardly said 
to move. While he hesitated how to proceed, le Subtil 
cautiously raised himself to his feet, though with a motion so 
slow and guarded, that not the slightest noise was produced by 
the change. Heyward felt it had now become incumbent on 
him to .act. Throwing his leg over the saddle, he dismounted, 
with a determination to advance and seize his treacherous com- 
panion, trusting the result to his own manhood. In order, 
however, to prevent unnecessary alarm, he still preserved an 
air of calmness and friendship. 

“ Le Renard Subtil does not e^t,” he said, using the appella- 
tion he had found most flattering to the vanity of the Indian. 
“ His corn is not well parched, and it seems dry. Let me 
examine ; perhaps something may be found among my own 
provisions that will help his appetite.” 

Magua held out the wallet to the proffer of the other. He 
even suffered their hands to meet, without betraying the least 
emotion, or varying his riveted attitude of attention. But when 
he felt the fingers of Heyward moving gently along his own 
naked arm, he struck up the limb of the young man, and 
uttering a piercing cry as he darted beneath it, plunged, at a 
single bound, into the opposite thicket. At the next instant 
the form of Chingachgook appeared from the bushes, looking 
like a spectre in its paint, and glided across the path in swift 
pursuit. Next followed the shout of Uncas, when the woods 
were lighted by a sudden flash, that was accompanied by the 
sharp report of the hunter’s rifle. 


) 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


53 


CHAPTER V. 


“ In snch a night 

Did Thisbe fearfully o’ertrip the dew ; 

And saw the lion’s shadow ere himself.” 

Merchant of Venice, 

The suddenness of the flight of his guide, and the wild cries 
of the pursuers, caused Heyward to remain fixed, for a few 
moments, in inactive surprise. Then recollecting the importance 
of securing the fugitive, he dashed aside the surrounding bushes, 
and pressed eagerly forward to lend his aid in the chase. 
Before he had, however, proceeded a hundred yards, he met 
the three foresters already returning from their unsuccessful 
pursuit. 

“ Why so soon disheartened !” he exclaimed ; “the scoundrel 
must be concealed behind some of these trees, and may yet be 
secured. We are not safe while he goes at large.” 

“ Would you set a cloud to chase the wind ?” returned the 
disappointed scout ; “ I heard the imp, brushing over the dry 
leaves, like a black snake, and blinking a glimpse of him, just 
over ag’in yon big pine, I pulled as it might be on the scent ; 
but ’twouldn’t do! and yet for a reasoning aim, if anybody 
but myself had touched the trigger, I should call it a quick 
sight ; and I may be accounted to have experience in these 
matters, and one who ought to know. Look at this sumach ; 
its leaves are red, though everybody knows the fruit is in the 
• yellow blossom, in the month of July !” 

“ ’Tis the blood of le Subtil ! he is hurt, and may yet fall 1” 

“ No, no,” returned the scout, in decided disapprobation of 
this opinion, “ I rubbed the bark off a limb, perhaps, but the 
creature leaped the longer for it. A rifle bullet acts on a 
running animal, when it barks him, much the same as one of 


54 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


your spurs on a horse ; that is, it quickens motion, and puts 
life into the flesh, instead of taking it away. But when it cuts 
the ragged hole, after a bound or two, there is, commonly, a 
stagnation of further leaping, be it Indian or be it deer !” 

“We are four able bodies, to one wounded man !” 

“ Is life grievous to you ?” interrupted the scout. “Yonder 
red devil would draw you within swing of the tomahawks of his 
comrades, before you were heated in the chase. It was 
an unthoughtful act in a man who has so often slept with the 
war-whoop ringing in the air, to let oft' his piece within sound of 
an ambushment ! But then it was a natural temptation ! ’twas 
very natural ! Come, friends, let us move our station, and in 
such a fashion, too, as will throw the cunning of a Mingo on a 
wrong scent, or our scalps will be drying in the wind in front of 
Montcalm’s marquee, ag’in this hour to-morrow.” 

This appalling declaration, which the scout uttered with the 
cool assurance of a man who fully comprehended, while he did 
not fear to face the danger, served to remind Heyward of the 
importance of the charge with which he himself had been 
intrusted. Glancing his eyes around, with a vain effort to 
pierce the gloom that was thickening beneath the leafy arches 
of the forest, he felt as if, cut off from human aid, his unresisting 
companions would soon lie at the entire mercy of those 
barbarous enemies, who, like beasts of prey, only waited till the 
gathering darkness might render their blows more fatally 
certain. His awakened imagination, deluded by the deceptive 
light, converted each waving bush, or the fragment of some 
fallen tree, into human forms, and twenty times he fancied he 
could distinguish the horrid visages of his lurking foes, peering 
from their hiding places, in never-ceasing watchfulness of the 
movements of his party. Looking upward, he found that the 
thin fleecy clouds, which evening had painted on the blue sky, 
were already losing their faintest tints of rose-color, while the 
imbedded stream, which glided past the spot where he stood, 
was to be traced only by the dark boundary of its wooded 
banks. 


THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 


65 


“ What is to be done ?” he ^aid, feeling the utter helplessness 
of doubt in such a pressing strait ; “ desert me not, for God’s 
sake ! remain to defend those I escort, and freely name your 
own reward ?” 

His companions, who conversed apart in the language of their 
tribe, heeded not this sudden and earnest appeal. Though their 
dialogue was maintained in low and cautious sounds, but little 
above a whisper, Heyward, who now approached, could easily 
distinguish the earnest tones of the younger warrior from the 
more deliberate speeches of his seniors. It was evident, that 
they debated on the propriety of some measure, that nearly 
concerned the welfare of the travellers. Yielding to his 
powerful interest in the subject, and impatient of a delay that 
seemed fraught with so much additional danger, Heyward drew 
still nigher to the dusky group, with an intention of making his 
offers of compensation more definite, when the white man, 
motioning with his hand, as if he conceded the disputed point, 
turned away, saying in a sort of soliloquy, and in the English 
tongue : — 

“ Uncas is right ! it would not be the act of men to leave 
such harmless things to their fate, even though it breaks up the 
harboring place for ever. If you would save these tender 
blossoms from the fangs of the worst of sarpents, gentle- 
man, you have neither time to lose nor resolution to throw 
away !” 

“How can such a wish be doubted! have I not already 
offered — ” 

“ Offer your prayers to Him, who can give us wisdom to 
circumvent the cunning of the devils who fill these woods,” 
calmly interrupted the scout, “ but spare your offers of money, 
wdiich neither you may live to realize, nor I to profit by. 
These Mohicans and I will do what man’s thoughts can invent, 
to keep such flowers, which, though so sweet, were never made 
for the wilderness, from harm, and that without hope of any 
other recompense but such as God always gives to upright 
dealings. First, you must promise two things, both in your own 


60 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


name and for your friends, or without serving you, we shall only 
injure ourselves !” 

“ Name them ” 

“ The one is, to be still as these sleeping woods, let what will 
happen ; and the other is, to keep the place where we shall take 
you for ever a secret from all mortal men.” 

“ I will do my utmost to see both these conditions ful- 
filled” 

“Then follow, for we are losing moments that are as 
precious as the heart’s blood to a stricken deer !” 

Heyward could distinguish the impatient gesture of the scout, 
through the increasing shadows of the evening, and he moved 
in his footsteps, swiftly, towards the place where he had left the 
remainder of his party. When they rejoined the expecting and 
anxious females, he briefly acquainted them with the conditions 
of their new guide, and with the necessity that existed for their 
hushing every apprehension, in instant and serious exertions. 
Although his alarm^g communication was not received without 
much secret terror by the listeners, his earnest and impressive 
manner, aided perhaps by the nature of the danger, succeeded 
in bracing their nerves to undergo some unlooked for and 
unusual trial. Silently, and without a moment’s delay, they 
permitted him to assist them from their saddles, when they 
descended quickly to the water’s edge where the scout had 
collected the rest of the party, more by the agency of expressive 
gestures than by any use of words. 

“ What to do with these dumb creatures !” muttered the 
white man, on whom the sole control of their future movement? 
appeared to devolve ; “ it would be time lost to cut their throats, 
and cast them into the river ; and to leave them here, would be 
to tell the Mingoes that they have not far to seek to find their 
ownei’s !” 

“ Then give them their bridles, and let them range the woods,” 
Heyward ventured to suggest. 

“ No ; it would be better to mislead the imps, and make them 
believe they must equal a horse’s speed to run down their chase. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


57 


Aye, a}’e, that will blind their fire-balls of eyes ! Chingach — 
Hist ! what stirs the bush ?” 

“ The colt.” 

“ That colt, at least, must die,” muttered the scout, grasping 
at the mane of the nimble beast, which easily eluded his hand ; 
“ Uncas, your arrows !” 

“ Hold !” exclaimed the proprietor of the condemned animal, 
aloud, without regard to the whispering tones used by the 
others ; “ spare the foal of Miriam I it is the comely offspring 
of a faithful dam, and would willingly injure naught.” 

“ When men struggle for the single life God has given them,” 
said the scout sternly, “ even their own kind seem no more than 
the beasts of the wood. If you speak again, I shall leave you 
to the mercy of the Maquas ! Draw to your arrow’s head, 
Uncas ; we have no time for second blows.” 

The low, muttering sounds of his threatening voice were still 
audible, when the wounded foal, first rearing on its hinder legs, 
plunged forward to its knees. It was met by Chingachgook, 
whose knife passed across its throat quicker than thought, and 
then precipitating the motions of the struggling victim, he 
dashed it into the river, down whose stream it glided away, 
gasping audibly for breath with its ebbing life. This deed of 
apparent cruelty, but of real necessity, fell upon the spirits of 
the travellers like a terrific warning of the peril in which they 
stood, heightened as it was by the calm though steady resolu- 
tion of the actors in the scene. The sisters shuddered and 
clung closer to each other, while Heyward instinctively laid his 
hand on one of the pistols he had just drawn from their holsters, 
as he placed himself between his charge and those dense shadows 
that seemed to draw an impenetrable veil before the bosom of the 
forest. 

The Indians, however, hesitated not a moment, but taking 
the bridles, they led the frightened and reluctant horses into 
the bed of the river. 

At a short distance from the shore, they turned, and were 
soon concealed by the projection of the bank, under the brow 

3 * 


68 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


of which they moved, in a direction opposite to the course of 
the waters. In the meantime, the scout drew a canoe ot 
bark from its place of concealment beneath some low bushes, 
whose branches were waving with the eddies of the current, 
into which he silently motioned for the females to enter. They 
complied without hesitation, though many a fearful and 
anxious glance was thrown behind them, towards the thickening 
gloom, which now lay like a dark barrier along the margin of 
the stream. 

So soon as Cora and Alice were seated, the scout, without 
regarding the element, directed Heyward to support one side 
of the frail vessel, and posting himself at the other, they bore 
it up against the stream, followed by the dejected owner of the 
dead foal. In this manner they proceeded, for many rods, in a 
silence that was only interrupted by the rippling of the water, 
as its eddies played around them, or the low dash made by 
their own cautious footsteps. Heyward yielded the guidance 
of the canoe implicitly to the scout, who approached or receded 
from the shore, to avoid the fragments of rocks, or deeper parts 
of the river, with a readiness that showed his knowledge of the 
route they held. Occasionally he would stop ; and in the 
midst of a breathing stillness, that the dull but increasing roar 
of the waterfall only served to render more impressive, he would 
listen with painful intenseness, to catch any sounds that might 
arise from the slumbering forest. When assured that all was 
still, and unable to detect, even by the aid of his practised 
senses, any sign of his approaching foes, he would deliberately 
assume his slow and guarded progress. At length they reached 
a point in the river, where the roving eye of Heyward became 
riveted on a cluster of black objects, collected at a spot where 
the high bank threw a deeper shadow than usual on the dark 
waters. Hesitating to advance, he pointed out the place to the 
attention of his companion. 

“Aye,” returned the composed scout, “ the Indians have hid the 
beasts with the judgment of natives ! Water leaves no trail, and 
an owl’s eyes would be blinded by the darkness of such a hole.” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 69 

The whole party was soon reunited, and another consultation 
was held between the scout and his new comrades, during which, 
they, whose fates depended on the faith and ingenuity of these 
unknown foresters, had a little leisure to observe their situation 
more minutely. 

The river was confined between high and cragged rocks, one 
of which impended above the spot where the canoe rested. As 
these, again, were surmounted by tall trees, which appeared to 
totter on the browns of the precipice, it gave the stream the ap- 
pearance of running through a deep and narrow dell. All be- 
neath the fantastic limbs and ragged tree tops, which were, 
here and there, dimly painted against the starry zenith, lay alike 
in shadowed obscurity. Behind them, the curvature of the 
banks soon bounded the view, by the same dark and wooded 
outline ; but in front, and apparently at no great distance, the 
water seemed piled against the heavens, whence it tumbled into 
caverns, out of which issued those sullen sounds that had loaded 
the evening atmosphere. It seemed, in truth, to be a spot de- 
voted to seclusion, and the sisters imbibed a soothing impression 
of security, as they gazed upon its romantic, though not unap- 
palling beauties. xV general movement among their conductors, 
however, soon recalled them from a contemplation of the wild 
charms that night had assisted to lend the place, to a painful 
sense of their real peril. 

The horses had been secured to some scattering shrubs that 
grew in the fissures of the rocks, where, standing in the water, 
they were left to pass the night. The scout directed Heyward 
and his disconsolate fellow-travellei’s to seat themselves in the 
forward end of the canoe, and took possession of the other him- 
self, as erect and steady as if he floated in a vessel of much 
firmer materials. The Indians warily retraced their steps to- 
wards the place they had left, when the scout, placing his pole 
against a rock, by a powerful shove, sent his frail bark directly 
into the centre of the turbulent stream. For many minutes the 
struggle between the light bubble in which they floated, and the 
swift current, was severe and doubtful. Forbidden to stir oven 


60 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


a hand, and almost afraid to breathe, lest they should expose 
the frail fabric to the fury of the stream, the passengers watched 
the glancing waters in fev^erish suspense. Twenty times they 
thought the whirling eddies were sweeping them to destruction, 
when the master-hand of their pilot would bring the bows of the 
canoe to stem the rapid. A long, a vigorous, and, as it appeared 
to the females, a desperate effort, closed the struggle. J ust as 
Alice veiled her eyes in horror, under the impression that they 
were about to be swept within the vortex at the foot of the ca- 
taract, the canoe floated, stationary, at the side of a flat rock, 
that lay on a level with the water. 

“ Where are we ? and what is next to be done ?” de- 
manded Heyward, perceiving that the exertions of the scout 
had ceased. 

“ You are at the foot of Glenn’s,” returned the other, speak- 
ing aloud, without fear of consequences, within the roar of the 
cataract ; “ and the next thing is to make a steady landing, lest 
the canoe upset, and you should go down again the hard road 
we have travelled, faster than you came up ; ’tis a hard rift to 
stem, when the river is a little swelled ; and five is an unna- 
tural number to keep dry, in the hurry-skurry, with a little 
birchen bark and gum. There, go you all on the rock, and I 
will bring up the Mohicans with the venison. A man had 
better sleep without his scalp, than famish in the midst of 
plenty.” 

His passengers gladly complied with these directions. As the 
last foot touched the rock, the canoe whirled from its station, 
when the tall form of the scout was seen, for an instant, gliding 
above the waters, before it disappeared in the impenetrable 
darkness that rested on the bed of the river. Left by their guide, 
the travellers remained a few minutes in helpless ignorance, 
afraid even to move along the broken rocks, lest a false step 
should precipitate them down some one of the many deep and 
roaring caverns, into which the water seemed to tumble, on 
every side of them. Their suspense, however, was soon relieved ; 
for, aided by the skill of the natives, the canoe shot back into 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 61 

tlie eddy, and floated again at the side of the low rock 
before they thought the scout had even time to rejoin his com- 
panions. 

“ We are now fortified, garrisoned, and provisioned,” cried 
Heyward, cheerfully, “ and may set Montcalm and his allies at 
defiance. How, now, my vigilant sentinel, can you see anything 
of those you call the Iroquois, on the main land ?” 

“ I call them Iroquois, because to me every native, who 
speaks a foreign tongue, is accounted an enemy, though he 
may pretend to serve the king! If Webb wants faith and 
honesty in an Indian, let him bring out the tribes of the Dela- 
wares, and send these greedy and lying Mohawks and Oneidas, 
with their six nations of varlets, where in nature they belong, 
among the French !” 

“We should then exchange a warlike for a useless friend I I 
have heard -that the Delawares have laid aside the hatchet, and 
are content to be called women !” 

“ Aye, shame on the Hollanders^ and Iroquois, who circum- 
vented them by their deviltries, into such a treaty ! But I have 
known them for twenty years, and I call him liar, that says cow- 
ardly blood runs in the veins of a Delaware. You have driven 
their tribes from the sea-shore, and would now believe what 
their enemies say, that you may sleep at night upon an easy 
pillow. No, no ; to me, every Indian who speaks a foreign 
tongue is an Iroquois, whether the castlef of his tribe be in Ca- 
nada, or be in York.” 

Heyward perceiving that the stubborn adherence of the scout 
to the cause of his friends the Delawares or Mohicans, for they 
were branches of the same numerous people, was likely to pro- 
long a useless discussion, changed .he subject. 

“ Treaty or no treaty, I know full well, that your two com- 


♦ The reader will remember that New York was originally a colony of the 
Dutch, / 

t The principal villages of the Indians are still called “ castles” by the whites of 
New York. “ Oneida castle” is no more than a scattered hamlet; but the name is 
In general use. 


62 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


panions are brave and cautious warriors ! have they heard or 
seen anything of our enemies ?” 

“ An Indian is a mortal to be felt afore he is seen,” returned 
the scout, ascending the rock, and throwing the deer carelessly 
down. “ I trust to other signs than such as come in at the eye. 
when I am outlying on the trail of the Mingoes.” 

“ Do your ears tell you that they have traced our retreat ?” 

“ I should be sorry to think they had, though this is a spot 
that stout courage might hold for a smart skrimmage. I will not 
deny, however, but the horses cowered when I passed them, as 
though they scented the wolves ; and a wolf is a beast that is 
apt to hover about an Indian ambushment, craving the offals of 
the deer the savages kill.” 

“ You forget the buck at your feet ! or, may we not owe their 
visit to the dead colt ? Ha ! what noise is that ?” 

“ Poor Miriam !” murmured the stranger ; “ thy foal was 
foreordained to become a prey to ravenous beasts 1” Then, sud- 
denly lifting up his voice, amid the eternal din of the waters, he 
sang aloud — 

“ First born of Egypt, smite did he, 

Of mankind, and of beast also ; 

O, Egypt ! wonders sent ’midst thee, 

On Pharaoh and his servants too !” 

“ The death of the colt sits heavy on the heart of its owner,” 
said the scout ; “ but it’s a good sign to see a man account upon 
his dumb friends. He has the religion of the matter, in believing 
what is to happen will happen ; and with such a consolation, it 
wont be long afore he submits to the rationality of killing a 
four-footed beast, to save the lives of human men. It may be 
as you say,” he continued, reverting to the purport of Heyward’s 
last remark ; “ and the greater the reason why we should cut 
our steaks, and let the carcase drive down the stream, or we 
shall have the pack howling along the cliffs, begrudging every 
mouthful we swallow. Besides, though the Delaware tongue is 
the same as a book to the Iroquois, the cunning varlets are 
quick enough at understanding the reason of a wolf’s howl.” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


63 


The scout, whilst making his remarks, was busied in collect- 
ing certain necessary implements ; as he concluded, he moved 
silently by the group of travellers, accompanied by the Mo- 
hicans, who seemed to comprehend his intentions with in- 
stinctive readiness, when the whole three disappeared in succes- 
sion, seeming to vanish against the dark face of a perpendicular 
rock, that rose to the height of a few yards, within as many feet 
of the water’s edge. 


04 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER VI. 

' Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide ; 

He wales a portion with judicious care ; 

And ‘let us worship God,’ he says, with solemn air.’* 

Burns. 

Heyward, and his female companions, witnessed this myste- 
rious movement with secret uneasiness ; for, though the conduct 
of the white man had hitherto been above reproach, his rude 
equipments, blunt address, and strong antipathies, together 
with the character of his silent associates, were all causes for 
exciting distrust in minds that had been so recently alarmed by 
Indian treachery. 

The stranger alone disregarded the passing incidents. He 
seated himself on a projection of the rocks, whence he gave no 
other signs of consciousness than by the struggles of his spirit, 
as manifested in frequent and heavy sighs. Smothered voices 
were next heard, as though men called to each other in the 
bowels of the earth, when a sudden light flashed upon those 
without, and laid bare the much prized secret of the place. 

At the further extremity of a narrow, deep cavern in the 
rock, w’hose length appeared much extended by the perspective 
and the nature of the light by which it was seen, was seated 
the scout, holding a blazing knot of pine. The strong glare 
of the fire fell full upon his sturdy, weather-beaten countenance and 
forest attire, lending an air of romantic wildness to the aspect 
of an individual, who, seen by the sober light of day, w'ould 
have exhibited the peculiarities of a man remarkable for the 
strangeness of his dress, the iron-like inflexibility of his frame, 
and the singular compound of quick, vigilant sagacity, and of 
exquisite simplicity, that by turns usurped the possession of his 
muscular features. At a little distance in advance stood ITncas, 

f*" 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 65 

his whole person tlirown powerfully into view. The travellers 
anxiously regarded the upright, flexible figure of the young 
Mohican, graceful and unrestrained in the attitudes and move- 
ments of nature. Though his person was more than usually 
screened by a green and fringed hunting-shirt, like that of the 
white man, there was no concealment to his dark, glancing, 
fearless eye, alike terrible and calm ; the bold outline of his high, 
haughty features, pure in their native red ; or to the dignified 
elevation of his receding forehead, together with all the finest 
proportions of a noble head, bared to the generous scalping 
tuft. It was the first opportunity possessed by Duncan and his 
companions, to view the marked lineaments of either of their 
Indian attendants, and each individual of the party felt relieved 
from a burden of doubt, as the proud and determined, though 
wild expression of the features of the young warrior forced 
itself on their notice. They felt it miglit be a being partially 
benighted in the vale of ignorance, but it could not be one who 
would willingly devote his rich natural gifts to the purposes of 
wanton treachery. The ingenuous Alice gazed at his free air and 
proud carriage, as she would have looked upon some precious 
relic of the Grecian chisel, to which life had been imparted by 
the intervention of a miracle ; while Heyward, though accus- 
tomed to see the perfection of form which abounds among the 
uncorrupted natives, openly expressed his admiration at such an 
unblemished specimen of the noblest proportions of man. 

“ I could sleep in peace,” whispered Alice, in reply, “ with 
such a fearless and generous looking youth for my sentinel. 
Surely, Duncan, those cruel murders, those terrific scenes of 
torture, of which we read and hear so much, are never acted in 
the presence of such as he !” 

“This, certainly, is a rare and brilliant instance of those 
natural qualities, in which these peculiar people are said to 
excel,” he answered. “ I agree with you, Alice, in thinking 
that such a front and eye were formed rather to intimidate than 
to deceive ; but let us not practise a deception upon ourselves, 
by expecting any other exhibition of what we esteem virtue 


G6 THE* LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

than according to the fashion of a savage. As bright examples 
of great qualities are but too uncommon among Christians, so 
are they singular and solitary with the Indians ; though, for the 
honor of our common nature, neither are incapable of producing 
them. Let us then hope that this Mohican may not disappoint 
our wishes, but prove, what his looks assert him to be, a brave 
and constant friend.” 

“ Now Major Heyward speaks as Major Heyward should,” 
said Cora ; “ who, that looks at this creature of nature, remem- 
bers the shade of his skin !” 

A short, and apparently an embarrassed silence succeeded 
this remark, which was interrupted by the scout calling to 
them, aloud, to enter. 

“ This lire begins to show too bright a flame,” he continued, 
as they complied, “ and might light the Mingoes to our undo- 
ing. Uncas, drop the blanket, and show the knaves its dark 
side. This is not such a supper as a major of the Royal 
Americans has a right to expect, but I’ve known stout detach- 
ments of the corps glad to eat their venison raw, and without a 
relish too."*" Here, you see, we have plenty of salt, and can 
make a quick broil. There’s fresh sassafras boughs for the 
ladies to sit on, which may not be as proud as their my-hog- 
guinea chairs, but which sends up a sweeter flavor than the skin 
of any hog can do, be it of Guinea, or be it of any other land. 
Come, friend, don’t be mournful for the colt ; ’twas an innocent 
thing, and had not seen much hardship. Its death will save 
the creature many a sore back and weary foot !” 

Uncas did as the other had directed, and when the voice of 
Hawk-eye ceased, the roar of the cataract sounded like the rum- 
bling of distant thunder. 


* In vulgar parlance the condiments of a repast are called by the American “ a 
relish,” substituting the thing for its etfect. These provincial terms are frequently 
put in the mouths of the speakers, according to their several conditions in life. 
Most of them are of local use, and others quite peculiar to the particular class of 
men to which the character belongs. In the present instance, the scout uses the 
word with immediate reference to the “salt,” with which his own party was so 
fortunate as to be provided. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 6T 

‘‘Are we quite safe in tliis cavern?” demanded Heyward. 
“ Is there no danger of surprise ? A single armed man, at its 
entrance, would hold us at his mercy.” 

A spectral-looking figure stalked from out the darkness 
behind the scout, and seizing a blazing brand, held it towards 
the further extremity of their place of retreat. Alice uttered a 
faint shriek, and even Cora rose to her feet, as this appalling 
object moved into the light ; but a single word from Heyward 
calmed them, with the assurance it was only their attendant, 
Chingachgook, who, lifting another blanket, discovered that the 
cavern had two outlets. Then, holding the brand, he crossed 
a deep, narrow chasm in the rocks, which ran at right angles 
with the passage they were in, but which, unlike that, was open 
to the heavens, and entered another cave, answering to the 
description of the first, in every essential particular. 

• “ Such old foxes as Chingachgook and myself are not often 
caught in a burrow with one hole,” said Hawk-eye, laughing ; 
“ you can easily see the cunning of the place — the rock is 
black limestone, which everybody knows is soft ; it makes no 
uncomfortable pillow, where brush and pine wood is scarce ; 
well, the fall was once a few yards below us, and I dare to say 
was, in its time, as regular and as handsome a sheet of water as 
any along the Hudson. But old age is a great injury to good 
looks, as these sweet young ladies have yet to I’arn ! The 
place is sadly changed ! These rocks are full of cracks, and in 
some places they are softer than at othersome, and the water 
has worked out deep hollows for itself, until it has fallen back, 
aye, some hundred feet, breaking here and wearing there, until 
the falls have neither shape nor consistency.” 

“ In what part of them are we ?” asked Heyward. 

“Why, we are nigh the spot that Providence first placed 
them at, but where, it seems, they were too rebellious to stay. 
The rock proved softer on each side of us, and so they left the 
centre of the river bare and dry, first working out these two 
little holes for us to hide in.” 

“We are then on an island ?” 


68 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ Aye ! there are the falls on two sides of us, and the river 
above and below. If you had daylight, it would be worth the 
trouble to step up on the height of this rock, and look at the 
perversity of the water. It falls by no rule at all ; sometimes 
it leaps, sometimes it tumbles ; there, it skips ; here, it shoots ; 
in one place ’tis white as snow, and in another ’tis green as 
grass ; hereabouts, it pitches into deep hollows, that rumble 
and quake the ’arth ; and thereaway, it ripjdes and sings like a 
brook, fashioning whirlpools and gulleys in the old stone, as if 
’twas no harder than trodden clay. The whole design of the 
river seems disconcerted. First it runs smoothly, as if meaning 
to go down the descent as things were ordered ; then it angles 
about and faces the shores ; nor are there places wanting 
where it looks backward, as if unwilling to leave the wilderness, 
to mingle with the salt ! Aye, lady, the fine cobweb-looking 
cloth you wear at your throat, is coarse, and like a fish net, to 
little spots I can show you, where the river fabricates all sorts of 
images, as if, having broke loose from order, it would try its 
liand at everything. And yet what does it amount to ! After 
the water has been suffered to have its will, for a time, like a 
headstrong man, it is gathered together by the hand that made 
it, and a few rods below you may see it all, flowing on steadily 
towards the sea, as was foreordained from the first foundation of 
the ’arth !” 

While his auditors received a cheering assurance of the security 
of their place of concealment, from this untutored description of 
Glenn’s,'^ they were much inclined to judge differently from 
Hawk-eye, of its wild beauties. But they were not in a situa- 

* Glenn’s Falls are on the Hudson, some forty or fifty miles above the head of tide, 
or the place where that river becomes navigable for sloops. The description of this 
picturesque and remarkable little cataract, as given by the scout, is sufficiently cor- 
rect, though the application of the water to the uses of civilized life has materially 
injured its beauties. The rocky island and the two caverns are well known to every 
traveller, since the former sustains a pier of a bridge, which is now thrown across 
the river, immediately above the fall. In explanation of the taste of Hawk-eye, it 
should be remembered that men always prize that most which is least enjoyed. 
Thus, ill a new country, the woods and other objects, which in an old country 
would be maintained at great cost, are got rid of, simply with a view of “ ini 
proving” as it is called. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 6U 

tioii to suffer their thoughts to dwell on the charms of natural 
objects ; and, as the scout had not found it necessaiy to cease 
his culinary labors while he spoke, unless to point out, with a 
broken fork, the direction of some particularly obnoxious point in 
the rebellious stream, they now suffered their attention to be 
drawn to the necessary though more vulgar consideration of 
their supper. 

The repast, which was greatly aided by the addition of a few 
delicacies that Heyward had the precaution to bring with him 
when they left their horses, was exceedingly refreshing to the 
wearied party. Uncas acted as attendant to the females, per- 
forming all the little offices within his power, with a mixture of 
dignity and anxious grace, that served to amuse Heyward, who 
well knew that it was an utter innovation on the Indian cus- 
toms, which forbid their warriors to descend to any menial 
employment, especially in favor of their women. As the rites 
of hospitality were, however, considered sacred among them, this 
little departure from the dignity of manhood excited no audible 
comment. Had there been one there sufficiently disengaged to 
become a close observer, he might have fancied that the services 
of the young chief were not entirely impartial. That while ho 
tendered to Alice the gourd of sweet water, and the venison in 
a trencher, neatly carved from the knot of the pepperidge, with 
sufficient courtesy, in performing the same offices to her sister, 
his dark eye lingered on her rich speaking countenance. Once 
or twice he was compelled to speak, to command the attention 
of those he served. In such cases, he made use of English, 
broken and imperfect, but sufficiently intelligible, and which he 
rendered so mild and musical, by his deep,^ guttural voice, th.af 
it never failed to cause both ladies to look up in admiration and 
astonishment. In the course of these civilities, a few sentences 
were exchanged, that served to establish the appearance of an 
amicable intercourse between the parties. 

In the meanwhile, the gravity of Chingachgook remained iin- 


* The meaning of Indian words is much governed by the emphasis and tones. 


10 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


moA^able. He had seated himself more within the circle of 
light, where the frequent uneasy glances of his guests were bet- 
ter enabled to separate the natural expression of his face from 
the artificial terrors of the war-paint. They found a strong re- 
semblance between father and son, with the difference that 
might be expected from age and hardships. The fierceness of 
his countenance now seemed to slumber, and in its place was to 
be seen the quiet, vacant composure, which distinguishes an 
Indian warrior, when his faculties are not required for any of the 
greater purposes of his existence. It was, however, easy to be 
seen, by the occasional gleams that shot across his swarthy 
visage, that it was only necessary to arouse his passions, in order 
to give full effect to the terrific device which he had adopted to 
intimidate his enemies. On the other hand, the quick, roving 
eye of the scout seldom rested. He ate and drank with an ap- 
petite that no sense of danger could disturb, but his vigilance 
seemed never to desert him. Twenty times the gourd or the 
venison was suspended before his lips, while his head was turned 
aside, as though he listened to some distant and distrusted 
sounds — a movement that never failed to recall his guests from 
regarding the novelties of their situation, to a recollection of the 
alarming reasons that had driven them to seek it. As these fre- 
quent pauses were never followed by any remark, the momen- 
tary uneasiness they created quickly passed away, and for a time 
was forgotten. 

“ Come, friend,” said Hawk-eye, drawing out a keg from be- 
neath a cover of leaves, towards the close of the repast, and 
addressing the stranger who sat at his elbow, doing great 
justice to his culinary skill, “ try a little spruce ; ’twill wash 
away all thoughts of the colt, and quicken the life in your 
bosom. I drink to our better friendship, hoping that a little 
horseflesh may leave no heartburnings atween us. How do you 
name yourself?” 

“ Gamut — David Gamut,” returned the singing master, pre- 
paring to wash down his sorrows in a powerful draught of the 
woodman’s high-flavored and well-laced compound. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


71 


“ A very good name, and, I dare say, handed down from 
honest forefathers. I’m an admirator of names, though the Chris- 
tian fashions fall far below savage customs in this particular. 
The biggest coward I ever knew was called Lyon ; and his wife, 
Patience, would scold you out of hearing in less time than a 
hunted deer would run a rod. With an Indian ’tis a matter of 
conscience ; what he calls himself, he generally is — not that 
Chingachgook, which signifies big sarpent, is really a snake, big 
or little ; but that he understands the windings and turnings of 
human natur’, and is silent, and strikes his enemies when they 
least expect him. — What may be your calling ?” 

“ I am an unworthy instructor in the art of psalmody.” 

“ Anan !” 

“ I teach singing to the youths of the Connecticut levy.” 

“ You might be better employed. The young hounds go 
laughing and singing too much already through the woods, 
when they ought not to breathe louder than a fox in his cover. 
Can you use the smooth bore, or handle the rifle ?” 

“ Praised be God, I have never had occasion to meddle with 
murderous implements !” 

“ Perhaps you understand the compass, and lay down the 
watercourses and mountains of the wilderness on paper, in order 
that they wLo follow may find places by their given names ?” 

“ I practise no such employment.” 

“ You have a pair of legs that might make a long path seem 
short ! you journey sometimes, I fancy, with tidings for the ge- 
neral.” 

“ Never ; I follow no other than my own high vocation, which 
is instruction in sacred music !” 

“ ’Tis a strange calling !” muttered Hawk-eye, with an in- 
ward laugh, “ to go through life, like a cat-bird, mocking all 
the ups and downs that may happen to come out of other 
men’s throats. Well, friend, I suppose it is your gift, and 
mustn’t be denied any more than if ’twas shooting, or some 
other better inclination. Let us hear what you can do in 
that way ; ’twill be a friendly manner of saying good night, for 


72 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


'tis time that these ladies should be getting strength for a hard 
and a long push, in the pride of the morning, afore the Maquas 
are stirring.” 

“ With joyful pleasure do I consent,” said David, adjusting 
his iron-rimmed spectacles, and producing his beloved little 
volume, which he immediately tendered to Alice. “ What can 
be more fitting and consolatory, than to offer up evening praise, 
after a day of such exceeding jeopardy !” 

Alice smiled ; but regarding Heyward, she blushed and hesi- 
tated. 

“ Indulge yourself,” he whispered : “ ought not the suggestion 
of the worthy namesake of the Psalmist to have its weight at 
such a moment ?” 

Encouraged by his opinion, Alice did what her pious incli- 
nations and her keen relish for gentle sounds, had before so 
strongly urged. The book was opened at a hymn not ill 
adapted to their situation, and in which the poet, no longer 
goaded by his desire to excel the inspired King of Israel, had 
discovered some chastened and respectable powers. Cora be- 
trayed a disposition to support her sister, and the sacred song 
proceeded, after the indispensable preliminaries of the pitch-pipe 
and the tune had been duly attended to by the methodical 
David. 

The air was solemn and slow. At times it rose to the fullest 
compass of the rich voices of the females, who hung over their 
little book in holy excitement, and again it sank so low, that 
the rushing of the waters ran through their melody, like a hol- 
low accompaniment. The natural taste and true ear of David 
governed and modified the sounds to suit the confined cavern, 
every crevice and cranny of which was filled with the thrilling 
notes of their flexible voices. The Indians riveted their eyes on 
the rocks, and listened with an attention that seemed to turn 
them into stone. But the scout, who had placed his chin in his 
hand, with an expression of cold indifference, gradually suffered 
his rigid features to relax, until, as verse succeeded verse, he felt 
his iron nature subdued, while his recollection was carried back 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 1S 

to boyhood, when liis ears had been accustomed to listen to si- 
milar sounds of praise, in the settlements of the colony. His 
roving eyes began to moisten, and before the hymn was ended, 
scalding tears rolled out of fountains that had long seemed dry, 
and followed each other dowm those cheeks, that had oftener felt 
the storms of heaven than any testimonials of weakness. The 
singers were dwelling on one of those low, dying chords, which 
the ear devours with such greedy rapture, as if conscious that it 
is about to lose them, when a cry, that seemed neither human 
nor earthly, rose in the outward air, penetrating not only the 
recesses of the cavern, but to the inmost hearts of all who heard 
it. It was followed by a stillness apparently as deep as if the 
waters had been checked in their furious progress, at such a 
horrid and unusual interruption. 

“ What is it ?” murmured Alice, after a few moments of ter- 
rible suspense. 

“ What is it ?” repeated Heyward, aloud. 

Neither Haw'k-eyc nor the Indians made any reply. They 
listened, as if expecting the sound would be repeated, with a 
manner that expressed their own astonishment. At length, they 
spoke together, earnestly, in the Delaware language, when 
Uncas, passing by the inner and most concealed aperture, cau- 
tiously left the cavern. AVhen he had gone, the scout first spoke 
in English. 

“ What it is, or what it is not, none here can tell ; though 
two of us have ranged the woods for more than thirty years ! I 
did believe there was no cry that Indian or beast could make, 
that my ears had nbt heard ; but this has proved that I was only 
a vain and conceited mortal !” 

“ Was it not, then, the shout the warriors make when they 
wish to intimidate their enemies ?” asked Cora, who stood draw- 
ing her veil about her person, with a calmness to which her agi- 
tated sister was a stranger. 

“ No, no ; this was bad, and shocking, and had a sort of un- 
human sound ; but when you once hear the war-whoop, you 
will never mistake it for anything else ! Well, Uncas !” speaking 

4 


74 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

in Delaware to the young chief as he re-entered, “ what see 
you ? do our lights shine through the blankets ?” 

The answer was short, and apparently decided, being given 
in the same tongue. 

“ There is nothing to be seen without,” continued Hawk-eye, 
shaking his head in discontent ; “ and our hiding-place is still in 
darkness ! Pass into the other cave, you that need it, and seek 
for sleep ; we must be afoot long before the sun, and make the 
most of our time to get to Edward, while the Mingoes are 
taking their morning nap.” 

Cora set the example of compliance, with a steadiness that 
taught the more timid Alice the necessity of obedience. Before 
leaving the place, however, she whispered a request to Duncan 
that he would follow. Uncas raised the blanket for their pas- 
sage, and as the sisters turned to thank him for this act of 
attention, they saw the scout seated again before the dying 
embers, with his face resting on his hands, in a manner which 
showed how deeply he brooded on the unaccountable interrup- 
tion which had broken up their evening devotions. 

Heyward took with him a blazing knot, which threw a dim 
light through the narrow vista of their new apartment. Placing 
it in a favorable position, he joined the females, who now found 
themselves alone with him for the first time since they had 
left the friendly ramparts of Fort Edward. 

“ Leave us not, Duncan,” said Alice ; “ we cannot sleep in 
such a place as this, with that horrid cry still ringing in our 
ears !” 

“ First let us examine into the security of your fortress,” he 
answered, “ and then we will speak of rest.” 

He approached the further end of the cavern, to an outlet, 
which, like the others, was concealed by blankets, and removing 
the thick screen, breathed the fresh and reviving air from the 
cataract. One arm of the river flowed through a deep, narrow 
ravine, which its current had worn in the soft rock, directly 
beneath his feet, forming an effectual defence, as he believed, 
against any danger from that quarter ; the water, a few rods 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 1b 

above them, plunging, glancing, and sweeping along, in its 
most violent and broken manner. 

“ Nature has made an impenetrable barrier on this side,” he 
continued, pointing down the perpendicular declivity into the 
dark current, before he dropped the blanket ; “ and as you 
know that good men and true are on guard in front, I see no 
reason why the advice of our honest host should be disregarded. 
I am certain Cora will join me in saying, that sleep is necessary 
to you both,” 

“ Cora may submit to the justice of your opinion, though she 
cannot put it in practice,” returned the elder sister, who had 
placed herself by the side of Alice, on a couch of sassafras ; 
“ there would be other causes to chase away sleep, though we 
had been spared the shock of this mysterious noise. Ask your- 
self, Heyward, can daughters forget the anxiety a father must 
endure, whose children lodge, he knows not where or how, in 
such a wilderness, and in the midst of so many perils !” 

“ He is a soldier, and knows how to estimate the chances of 
the woods.” 

“ He is a father, and cannot deny his nature.” 

“ How kind has he ever been to all my follies ! how tender 
and indulgent to all my wishes !” sobbed Alice. “ We have 
been selfish, sister, in urging our visit at such hazard !” 

“ I may have been rash in pressing his consent in a moment 
of so much embarrassment, but I would have proved to him, 
that however others might neglect him in his strait, his children 
at least were faithful I” 

“ When he heard of your arrival at Edward,” said Heyward, 
kindly, “ there was a powerful struggle in his bosom between 
fear and love ; though the latter, heightened, if possible, by so 
long a separation, quickly prevailed. ‘ It is the spirit of my 
noble-minded Cora that leads them, Duncan,’ he said, ‘ and I 
will not balk it. Would to God, that he who holds the honor 
of our royal master in his guardianship, would show but hall 
her firmness !’ ” 

“ And did he not speak of me, Heyward ?” demanded Alice, 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 



with iealoiis affection. “ Surely, lie forc^ot not altoo:ether hia 
little Elsie !” 

“ That were impossible,” returned the young man ; “ he 
called you by a thousand endearing epithets, that I may not 
presume to use, but to the justice of which I can warmly testify 
Once, indeed, he said — ” 

Duncan ceased speaking ; for while his eyes were riveted on 
those of Alice, who had turned towards him with the eagerness 
of filial affection, to catch his words, the same strong, horrid 
cry, as before, filled the air, and rendered him mute. A long, 
breathless silence succeeded, during which each looked at the 
others in fearful expectation of hearing the sound repeated. 
At length, the blanket was slowly raised, and the scout stood 
in the aperture with a countenance whose firmness evidently 
began to give way, before a mystery that seemed to threaten 
some danger, against which all his cunning and experience 
might prove of no avail. 


CHAPTER VII. 


“ They do not sleep. 

On yonder clifts, a grisly band, 

I see them sit.” Gray. 

“’Twould be neglecting a warning that is given for our good, 
to lie liid any longer,” said Ilawk-eye, “ when such sounds are 
raised in the forest ! These gentle ones may keep close, but 
the Mohicans and I will watch upon the rock, where I suppose 
a major of the 60th would wish to keep us company.” 

“Is then our danger so pressing ?” asked Cora. 

“ He who makes strange sounds, and gives them out for 
man’s information, alone knows our danger. I should think 
myself wicked, unto rebellion against his ‘will, was I to burrow 
with such warnings in tlie air ! Even the weak soul who 
passes his days in singing, is stirred by the cry, and, as he says, 
is ‘ ready to go forth to the battle.’ If ’twere only a battle, it 
would be a thing understood by us all, and easily managed ; 
but I have heard that when such shrieks are atween heaven 
and ’arth, it betokens another sort of warfare !” 

“ If all our reasons for fear, my friend, are confined to such 
as proceed from supernatural causes, we have but little occasion 
to be alarmed,” continued the undisturbed Cora; “are you 
certain that our enemies have not invented some new and 
ingenious method to stiike us with terror, that their conquest 
may become more easy ?” 

“ Lady,” returned the scout, solemnly, “ I have listened to 
all the sounds of the woods for thirty years, as a man will 
listen, whose life and death depend on the quickness of his ears. 
There is no whine of the panther ; no whistle of the cat-bird ; 
nor any invention of the devilish Mingoes, that can cheat me ! 
I have heard the forest moan like mortal men in their affliction ; 


78 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


often, and again, have I listened to the wind j^laying its music 
in the branches of the girdled trees ; and I have heard the 
lightning cracking in the air, like the snapping of blazing brush, 
as it spitted forth sparks and forked flamei'. ; but never have I 
thought that I heard more than the pleasure of Him who 
sported with the things of his hand. But neither the Mohicans, 
nor I, who am a white man without a cross, can explain the 
cry just heard. We, therefore, believe it a sign given for our 
good.” 

“ It is extraordinary !” said Heyward, taking his pistols from 
the place where he had laid them on entering ; “ be it a sign 
of peace or a signal of war, it must be looked to. Lead the 
way, my fi’iend ; I follow.” 

On issuing from their place of confinement, the whole party 
instantly experienced a grateful renovation of spirits, by ex- 
changing the pent air of the hiding-place for the cool and 
invigorating atmosphere, which played around the whirlpools 
and pitches of the catai’act. A heavy evening breeze swept 
along the surface of the river, and seemed to drive the roar of 
the falls into the recesses of their own caverns, whence it issued 
heavily and constant, like thunder rumbling beyond the distant 
hills. The moon had risen, and its light was already glancing 
here and there on the waters above them ; but the extremity 
of the rock where they stood still lay in shadow. With the 
exception of the sounds produced by the rushing waters, and 
an occasional breathing of the air, as it murmured past them 
in fitful currents, the scene was as still as night and solitude 
could make it. In vain were the eyes of each individual bent 
along the opposite shores, in quest of some signs of life, that 
might explain the nature of the interruption they had heard. 
Their anxious and eager looks were baffled by the deceptive 
light, or rested only on naked rocks, and straight and immovable 
trees. 

“ Here is nothing to be seen but the gloom and quiet of a 
lovely evening,” whispered Duncan; “how much should we 
prize such a scene, and all this breathing solitude, at any other 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. lO 

moment, Cora ! Fancy yourselves in security, and what now, 
perhaps, increases your terror, may be made conducive to 
enjoyment — ” 

“ Listen !” interrupted Alice. 

The caution was unnecessary. Once more the same sound 
arose, as if from the bed of the river, and having broken out of 
the narrow bounds of the cliffs, was heard undulating through 
the forest, in distant and dying cadences. 

“ Can any here give a name to such a cry ?” demanded 
Hawk-eye, when the last echo was lost in the woods ; “ if so, 
let him speak ; for myself, I judge it not to belong to ’arth !” 

“ Here, then, is one who can undeceive you,” said Duncan ; 
“ I know the sound full well, for often have I heard it on the 
field of battle, and in situations which are frequent in a soldier’s 
life. ’Tis the horrid shriek that a horse will give in his agony ; 
oftener drawn from him in pain, though sometimes in terror. 
My charger is either a prey to the beasts of the forest, or he 
sees his danger, without the power to avoid it. The sound 
might deceive me in the cavern, but in the open air I know it 
too well to be wrong.” 

The scout and his companions listened to this simple explana- 
tion with the interest of men who imbibe new ideas, at the 
same time that they get rid of old ones, which had proved disa- 
greeable inmates. The two latter uttered their usual and ex- 
pressive exclamation, “ hugh !” as the truth first glanced upon 
their minds, while the former, after a short musing pause, took 
upon himself to reply. 

“ I cannot deny your words,” he said ; “ for I am little skilled 
in horses, though born where they abound. The wolves must 
be hovering above their, heads on the bank, and the timoreome 
creatures are calling on man for help, in the best manner they 
are able. Uncas” — he spoke in Delaware — “Uncas, drop 
down in the canoe, and whii’l a brand among the pack ; or fear 
may do what the wolves can’t get at to perform, and leave 
us without horses in the morning, when we shall have so much 
need to journey swiftly !” 


80 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


The young native had already descended to the water, to 
comply, when a long howl was raised on the edge of the river, 
and was borne swiftly off into the depths of the forest, as 
though the beasts, of their own accord, were abandoning their 
prey in sudden terror. Uncas, with instinctive quickness, re- 
ceded, and the three foresters held another of their low, earnest 
conferences. 

“We have been like hunters who have lost the points of the 
heavens, and from whom the sun has been hid for d jys,” said 
Hawk-eye, turning away from his companions ; “ now we begin 
again to know the signs of our course, and the paths are cleared 
from briers! Seat yourselves in the shade which the moon 
throws from yonder beecb — ’tis thicker than that of the pines — 
and let us wait for that which the Lord may choose to send next. 
Let all your conversation be in whispers ; though it would be 
better, and perhaps, in the end, wiser, if each one held discourse 
with his own thoughts, for a time.” 

The manner of the scout was seriously impressive, though no 
longer distinguished by any signs of unmanly apprehension. 
It was evident that his momentary weakness had vanished 
with the explanation of a mystery which his own experience 
had not served to fathom ; and though he now felt all the 
realities of their actual condition, that he was prepared to meet 
them with the energy of his hardy nature. This feeling seemed 
also common to the natives, who placed themselves in positions 
which commanded a full view of both shores, while their own 
persons were eflfectually concealed fi*om observation. In such 
circumstances, common prudence dictated that Heyward and 
his companions should imitate a caution that proceeded from so 
intelligent a source. The young man drew a pile of the sassafras 
from the cave, and placing it in the chasm which separated the 
two caverns, it was occupied by the sisters ; who were thus pro- 
tected by the rocks from any missiles, while their anxiety was 
relieved by the assurance that no danger could approach with- 
out a warning. Heyward himself was posted at hand, so near 
that he might communicate with his companions without rais* 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 81 

ing Ills voice to a dangerous elevation ; while David, in imita- 
tion of the w^oodsmen, bestowed his person in such a manner 
among the fissures of the rocks, that his ungainly limbs were no 
longer offensive to the eye. 

In this manner, hours passed by without further interruption. 
The moon reached the zenith, and shed its mild light perpen- 
dicularly on the lovely sight of the sisters slumbering peace- 
fully in each other’s arms. Duncan cast the wide shawl of 
Cora before a spectacle he so much loved to contemplate, and 
then suffered his own head to seek a pillov/ on the rock. David 
began to utter sounds that would have shocked his delicate 
organs in more wakeful moments ; in short, all but Hawk-eye 
and the Mohicans lost every idea of consciousness, in uncon- 
trollable drowsiness. But the watchfulness of these vigilant 
protectors neither tired nor slumbered. Immovable as that 
rock, of which each appeared to form a part, they lay, with 
their eyes roving, without intermission, along the dark margin 
of trees that bounded the adjacent shores of the narrow stream. 
Not a sound escaped them ; the most subtle examination could 
not have told they breathed. It was evident that this excess 
of caution proceeded from an experience that no subtlety on the 
part of their enemies could deceive. It was, however, con- 
tinued without any apparent consequences, until the moon had 
set, and a pale streak above the tree-tops, at the bend of the 
i-iver a little below, announced the approach of day. 

Then, for the first time. Hawk-eye was seen to stir. He 
crawled along the rock, and shook Duncan from his heavy 
slumbers. 

“ Now is the time to journey,” he whispered ; “ awake the 
gentle ones, and be ready to get into the canoe when I bring it 
to the landing-place.” 

“ Have you had a quiet night ?” said Heyward ; “ for myself, 
I believe sleep has got the better of my vigilance.” 

“ All is yet still as midnight. Be silent, but be quick.” 

By this time Duncan was thoroughly awake, and he immedi- 
ately lifted the shawl from the sleeping females. The motion 

4 ^^ 


82 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, 


caused Cora to raise her hand as if to repulse him, while Alice 
murmured, i)i her soft gentle voice, “ No, no, dear father, we 
were not deserted ; Duncan was with us !” 

“ Yes, sweet innocence,” whispered the youth ; “ Duncan is 
here, and while life continues or danger remains, he will never 
quit thee. Cora ! Alice ! awake ! The hour has come to 
move !” 

A loud shriek from the younger of the sisters, and the form 
of the other standing upright before him, in bewildered horror, 
was the unexpected answer he received. While the words 
were still on the lips of Heyward, there had arisen such a 
tumult of yells and cries as served to drive the swift currents of 
his own blood back from its bounding course into the fountains 
of his heart. It seemed, for near a minute, as if the demons 
of hell had possessed themselves of the air about them, and 
were venting their savage humors in barbarous sounds. The 
cries came from no particular direction, though it was evident 
they filled the woods, and as 'the appalled listeners easily 
imagined, the caverns of the falls, the rocks, the bed of the 
river, and the upper air. David raised his tall person in the 
midst of the infernal din, with a hand on either ear, exclaiming — 

“ Whence comes this discord ! Has hell broke loose, that 
man should utter sounds like these !” 

The bright flashes and the quick reports of a dozen rifles, 
from the opposite banks of the stream, followed this incau lions 
exposure of his person, and left the unfortunate singing master 
senseless on that rock where he had been so long slumbering. 
The Mohicans boldly sent back the intimidating yell of their 
enemies, who raised a shout of savage triumph at the fall of 
Gamut. The flash of rifles was then quick and close between 
them, but either party was too well skilled to leave even a limb 
exposed to the hostile aim. Duncan listened with intense 
anxiety for the strokes of the paddle, believing that flight was 
now their only refuge. The river glanced by with its ordinary 
velocity, but the canoe was nowhere to be seen on its dark 
waters. He had just fancied they were cruelly deserted by the 


THE LAS'l' OF THE MOHICANS. 


83 


scout, as a stream of flame issued from tlie rock beneath 
and a fierce yell, blended with a shriek of agony, announced 
that the messenger of death, sent from the fatal weapon of 
Hawk-eye, had found a victim. At this slight repulse the 
assailants instantly withdrew, and gradually the place became 
as still as before the sudden tumult. 

Duncan seized the favorable moment to spring to the body 
of Gamut, which he bore within the shelter of the narrow 
chasm that protected the sisters. In another minute the whole 
party was collected in this spot of comparative safety. 

“ The poor fellow has saved his scalp,” said Hawk-eye, coolly 
passing his hand over the head of David ; “ but he is a proof 
that a man may be born with too long a tongue ! ’Twas down- 
right madness to show six feet of flesh and blood, on a naked 
rock, to the raging savages. I only wonder he has escaped 
with life.” 

“ Is he not dead !” demanded Cora, in a voice whose husky 
tones showed how powerfully natural horror struggled with her 
assumed firmness- “ Can we do aught to assist the wretched 
man ?” 

“ No, no ! the life is in his heart yet, and after he has slept 
awhile he will come to himself, and be a wiser man for it, till 
the hour of his real time shall come,” returned Hawk-eye, cast- 
ing another oblique glance at the insensible body, while he 
filled his charger with admirable nicety. “ Carry him in, Uncas, 
and lay him on the sassafras- The longer his nap lasts the 
better it will be for him, as I doubt whether he can find 
a proper cover for such a shape on these rocks ; and singing 
won’t do any good with the Iroquois.” 

“ You believe, then, tlie attack will be renew^ed ?” asked 
Heyward. 

“ Do I expect a hungry wolf will satisfy his craving with a 
mouthful ! They have lost a man, and ’tis their fashion, when 
they meet a loss, and fail in the surprise, to fall back ; but we 
fiball have them on again, with new expedients to circumvent 
us, and master our scalps. Our main hope,” he continued, 


84 


rilE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


raising liis rugged countenance, across which a shade of anxiety 
just then passed like a darkening cloud, “ will be to keep the 
rock until Munro can send a party to our help ! God send it 
may be soon, and under a leader that knows the Indian 
customs !” 

“ You hear our probable fortunes, Cora,” said Duncan ; “ and 
you know we have everything to hope from the anxiety and 
experience of your father. Come, then, with Alice, into this 
cavern, where you, at least, will be safe from the murderous 
rifles of our enemies, and where you may bestow a care suited 
to your gentle natures on our unfortunate comrade.” 

The sisters followed him into the outer cave, where David 
was beginning, by his sighs, to give symptoms of returning 
consciousness ; and then commending the wounded man to 
their attention, he immediately prepared to leave them. 

“ Duncan !” said the tremulous voice of Cora, when he had 
reached the mouth of the cavern. lie turned, and beheld the 
speaker, whose color had changed to a deadly paleness, and 
whose lip quivered, gazing after him, with an expression of 
interest which immediately recalled him to her side. ‘ Remem- 
ber, Duncan, how' necessary your safety is to our own — how 
you bear a father’s sacred trust — how much depends on your 
discretion and care — in short,” she added, while the tell-tale 
blood stole over her features, cilmsoning her very temples, 
“how very deservedly dear you are to all of the name of 
Munro.” 

“ If anything could add to my own base love of life,” said 
Heyward, suffering his unconscious eyes to wander to the 
youthful form of the silent Alice, “it would be so kind an 
assurance. As major of the 60th, our honest host will tell yoii 
I must take my share of the fray ; but our task will be easy ; 
it is merely to keep these blood-hounds at bay for a few hours.” 

Without waiting for reply, he tore himself from the presence 
of the sisters, and joined the scout and his companions, who still 
lay within the protection of the little chasm between the two 
caves. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 85 

“ I tell you, Uncas,” said the former, as Ileywmd joined 
them, “ you are wasteful of your powder, and the kick of the 
rifle disconcerts your aim ! Little powder, light lead, and a 
long arm, seldom fail of bringing the death screech from a 
Mingo ! At least, such has been my experience with the crea- 
tur’s. Come, friends ; let us to our covers, for no man can tell 
when or where a Maqua"* will strike his blow.” 

The Indians silently repaired to their appointed stations, 
which were fissures in the rocks, whence they could command 
the approaches to the foot of the falls. In the centre of the 
little island, a few short and stunted pines had found root, form- 
ing a thicket, into which Hawk-eye darted with the swiftness of 
a deer, followed by the active Duncan. Here they secured 
themselves, as well as circumstances would permit, among the 
shrubs and fragments of stone that were scattered about the 
place. Above them was a bare, rounded rock, on each side of 
which the water played its gambols, and plunged into the 
abysses beneath, in the manner already described. As the day 
had now dawned, the opposite shores no longer presented a 
confused outline, but they were able to look into the woods, and 
distinguish objects beneath the canopy of gloomy pines. 

A long and anxious watch succeeded, but without any further 
evidences of a renewed attack ; and Duncan began to hope that 
their fire had proved more fetal than was supposed, and that 
their enemies had been effectually repulsed. When he ventured 
to utter this impression to his companion, it was met by Hawk- 
eye with an incredulous shake of the head. 

“ You know not the nature of a Maqua, if you think he is so 
easily beaten back without a scalp !” he answered. “ If there 
was one of the imps yelling this morning, there were forty ! and 
they know our number and quality too well to give up the chase 
so soon. Hist ! look into the water above, just where it breaks 


* It will be observed that Hawk-eye applies different names to his enemies 
Mingo and Maqua are terms of contempt, and Iroquois is a name given by the 
French. The Indians rarely use the same name when different tribes speak of each 
other. 


86 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


over the rocks. I am no mortal, if the risky devils haven’t swam 
down upon the very pitch, and, as bad luck would have it, they 
have hit the head of the island. Hist ! man, keep close ! or the 
hair will be off your crown in the turning of a knife !” 

Heyward lifted his head from the cover, and beheld what he 
justly considered a prodigy of rashness and skill. The river had 
worn away the edge of the soft rock in such a manner, as to 
render its first pitch less abrupt and perpendicular than is usual 
at waterfalls. With no other guide than the ripple of the stream 
where it met the head of the island, a party of their insatiable 
foes had ventured into the current, and swam down upon this 
point, knowing the ready access it would give, if successful, to 
their intended victims. As Hawk-eye ceased speaking, four 
human heads could be seen peering above a few logs of drift 
wood that had lodged on these naked rocks, and which had 
probably suggested the idea of the practicability of the hazardous 
undertaking. At the next moment, a fifth form was seen float- 
ing over the green edge of the fall, a little from the line of the 
island. The savage struggled powerfully to gain the point of 
safety, and, favored by the glancing water, he was already 
stretching forth an arm to meet the grasp of his companions, 
when he shot away again with the whirling current, appeared to 
rise into the air, with uplifted arms and starting eyeballs, and 
fell, with a sullen plunge, into that deep and yawning abyss 
over which he hovered. A single, wild, despairing shriek rose 
from the cavern, and all was hushed again, as the grave. 

The first generous impulse of Duncan w’as to rush to the 
rescue of the hapless wretch ; but he felt himself bound to the 
spot by the iron grasp of the immovable scout. 

“ Would ye bring certain death upon us, by telling the Min- 
goes where we lie ?” demanded Hawk-eye, sternly ; “ ’tis a 
charge of powder saved, and ammunition is as precious now as 
breath to a worried deer ! Freshen the priming of your pistols — 
the mist of the falls is apt to dampen the brimstone — and stand 
firm for a close struggle, while I fire on their rush.” 

He placed a finger in his mouth, and drew a long, shrill 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


81 


whistle, w’liicli was answered from the rocks that were guarded 
by the Mohicans. Duncan caught glimpses of heads above the 
scattered drift wood, as this signal rose on tlie air, but they dis- 
appeared again as suddenly as they had glanced upon his sight. 
A low, rustling sound, next drew his attention behind him, and 
turning his head, he beheld Uncas within a few feet, creeping to 
his side. Hawk-eye spoke to him in Delaware, when the young 
chief took his position wdth singular caution and undisturbed 
coolness. To Heyward this was a moment of feverish and im- 
patient suspense ; though the scout saw fit to select it as a fit 
occasion to read a lecture to his more youthful associates on the 
art of using fire-arms with discretion. 

“ Of all we’pons,” he commenced, “ the long-barrelled, true- 
grooved, soft-metalled rifle, is the most dangerous in skilful 
hands, though it wants a strong arm, a quick eye, and great 
judgment in charging, to put forth all its beauties. The gun- 
smith^ can have but little insight into their trade, when they 
make their fowling-pieces and short horsemen’s — ” 

He was interrupted by the low but expressive “ hugh” of 
Uncas. 

“ I see them, boy, I see them !” continued Hawk-eye ; “ they 
are gathering for the rush, or they would keep their dingy backs 
below the logs. Well, let them,” he added, examining his flint ; 
“the leading man certainly comes on to his death, though it 
should be Montcalm himself!” 

At that moment the woods were filled with another burst of 
cries, and at the signal four savages sprang from the cover of the 
drift wood. Heyward felt a burning desire to rush forward to 
meet them, so intense was the delirious anxiety of the moment ; 
but he was restrained by the deliberate examples of the scout 
and Uncas. When their foes, who leaped over the black rocks 
that divided them, with long bounds, uttering the wildest yells, 
were within a few rods, the rifle of Hawk-eye slowly rose among 
the shrubs, and poured out its fatal contents. The foremost 
Indian bounded like a stricken deer, and fell headlong among 
the clefts of the island. 


88 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

“ Now, Uncas !” cried the scout, drawing his long knife, wliile 
his quick eyes began to flash with ardor, “ take the last of the 
screeching imps; of the other two we are sartain!” 

He was obeyed ; and but two enemies remained to be o\-er- 
come. Heyward had given one of his pistols to Hawk-eye, and 
together they rushed down a little declivity towards their foes ; 
they discharged their weapons at the same instant, and equally 
without success. 

“ I know’d it! and I said it!*’ muttered the scout, whirling 
the despised little implement over the falls with bitter disdain. 
“ Come on, ye bloody minded hell-hounds ! ye meet a man 
without a cross !” 

The words were barely uttered, when he encountered a savage 
of gigantic stature, and of the fiercest mien. At the same 
moment, Duncan found himself engaged with the other, in a 
similar contest of hand to hand. With ready skill. Hawk-eye 
and his antagonist each grasped that uplifted arm of the .other 
which held the dangerous knife. For near a minute they stood 
looking one another in the eye, and gradually exerting the 
power of their muscles for the mastery. At length, the tough- 
ened sinews of the white man prevailed over the less practised 
limbs of the native. The arm of the latter slowly gave way 
before the increasing force of the scout, who suddenly wresting 
his armed hand from the grasj) of his foe, drove the sharp 
wea])on through his naked bosom to the heart. In the mean- 
time, Heyward had V)een pressed in a more deadly struggle. 
His slight sword was snapped in the first encounter. As he was 
destitute of any other means of defence, his safety now depended 
entirely on bodily strength and resolution. Though deficient in 
neither of these qualities, he had met an enemy every way his 
equal. Happily, he soon succeeded in disarming his adversary, 
whose knife fell on the rock at their feet; and from this 
moment it became a fierce struggle who should cast the other 
over the dizzy height into a neighboring cavern of the falls. 
Every successive struggle brought them nearer to the verge, 
where Duncan perceived the final and conquering effort must be 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


80 


made. Each of the combatants threw all his energies into that 
effort, and the result was, that both tottered on the brink of the 
precipice. Heyward felt the grasp of the other at his throat, 
and saw the grim smile the savage gave, under the revengeful hope 
that he hurried his enemy to a fate similar to his own, as he felt 
his body slowly yielding to a resistless power, and the young man 
experienced the passing agony of such a moment in all its horrors. 
At that instant of extreme danger, a dark hand and glancing 
knife appeared before him ; the Indian released his hold, as the 
blood flowed freely from around the severed tendons of his wrist ; 
and while Duncan was drawn backward by the saving arm of 
Uncas, his charmed eyes were still riveted on the fierce and dis- 
appointed countenance of his foe, who fell sullenly and disap- 
pointed down the irrecoverable precipice. 

“To cover! to cover!” cried Hawk-eye, who just then had 
despatched his enemy ; “ to cover, for your lives ! the work is 
but half ended !” 

The young Mohican gave a shout of triumph, and, followed 
by Duncan, he glided up the acclivity they had descended to 
the combat, and sought the friendly shelter of the rocks and 
shrubs. 


THE 


AST OF THE MOHICANS. 


UO 


CHAPTER VIII. 

They linger yet, 

Avengers of their native land. Gray. 

The warning call of the scout was not uttered without occasion. 
During the occurrence of the deadly encounter just related, the 
roar of the hills was unbroken by any human sound whatever. 
It would seem that interest in the result had kept the natives 
on the opposite shores in breathless suspense, while the quick 
evolutions and swift changes in the positions of the combatants, 
effectually prevented a fire that might prove dangerous alike to 
friend and enemy. But the moment the struggle was decided, 
a yell arose as fierce and sai'age as wild and revengeful passions 
could throw into the air. It was followed by the swift flashes 
of the rifles, which sent their leaden messengers across the rock 
in volleys, as though the assailants would pour out their 
impotent fury on the insensible scene of the fatal contest. 

A steady, thougli deliberate return was made from the rifle 
of Chingachgook, who had maintained his post throughout the 
fray with unmoved resolution. When the triumphant shout of 
Uncas was borne to his ears, the gratified father raised his voice 
in a single responsive cry, after which his busy piece alone 
proved that he still guarded his pass with unwearied diligence. 
In this manner many minutes flew by with the swiftness of 
thought: the rifles of the assailants speaking, at times, in 
rattling volleys, and at others, in occasional, scattering shots. 
Though the rock, the trees, and the shrubs, were cut and torn 
in a hundred places around the besieged, their cover was so 
close, and so rigidly maintained, that, as yet, David had been 
the only sufferer in their little band. 

“ Let them burn their powder,” said the deliberate scout, 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 91 

while bullet after bullet whizzed by the place where he securelv 
lay ; “ there will be a fine gathering of lead when it is over, 
and I fancy the imps will tire of the sport, afore these old stones 
cry out for mercy ! Uncas, boy, you waste the kernels by 
overcharging : and a kicking rifle never carries a true bullet. I 
told 'you to take that loping miscreant under the line of white 
paint ; now^, if your bullet went a hair’s breadth, it went two 
inches above it. The life lies low in a Mingo, and humanity 
teaches us to make a quick end of the sarpents.” 

A quiet smile lighted the haughty features of the young 
Mohican, betraying his knowledge of the English language, as 
well as of the other’s meaning ; but he suflered it to pass away 
without vindication or reply. 

“I cannot permit you to accuse Uncas of want of judgment 
or of skill,” said Duncan ; “ he saved my life in the coolest and 
readiest manner, and he has made a friend who never will 
require to be reminded of the debt he owes.” 

Uncas partly raised his body, and offered his hand to the 
gra'ip of Heyward. During this act of friendship, the two 
young men exchanged looks of intelligence which caused 
Duncan to forget the character and condition of his wild 
associate. In the meanwhile, Hawk-eye, who looked on this 
burst of youthful feeling with a cool but kind regard, made the 
following reply : — 

“ Life is an obligation which friends often owe to each other 
in the wilderness. I dare say I may have served Uncas some 
such turn myself before now ; and I very well remember that 
he has stood between me and death five different times : three 
times from the Mingoes, once in crossing Horican, and — ” 

“ That bullet was better aimed than common !” exclaimed 
Duncan, involuntarily shrinking from a shot which struck the 
rock at his side with a smart rebound. 

Hawk-eye laid his hand on the shapeless metal, and shook 
his head, as he examined it, saying, “ Falling lead is never 
flattened ! had it come from the clouds this might have 
happened !” 


92 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


But the rifle of Uncas was deliberately raised towards the 
heavens, directing the eyes of his companions to a point, where 
the mystery was immediately explained. A ragged oak grew 
on the right bank of the river, nearly opposite to their position, 
which, seeking the freedom of the open space, had inclined so 
far forward, that its upper branches overhung that arm of the 
stream which flowed nearest to its own shore. Among the 
topmost leaves, which scantily concealed the gnarled and stunted 
limbs, a savage was nestled, partly concealed by the trunk 
of the tree, and partly exposed, as though looking down 
upon them to ascertain the effect produced by his treacherous 
aim. 

“These devils will scale heaven to circumvent us to our ruin,” 
said Hawk-eye ; “ keep him in play, boy, until I can bring 
‘ kill-deer’ to bear, when we will try his metal on each side of 
the tree at once.” 

Uncas delayed his fire until the scout uttered the word. The 
rifles flashed, the leaves and bark of the oak flew into the air, 
and were scattered by the wind, but the Indian answered their 
assault by a taunting laugh, sending down upon them another 
bullet in return, that struck the cap of Hawk-eye from his head. 
Once more the savage yells burst out of the w'oods, and the 
leaden hail whistled above the heads of the besieged, as if to 
confine them to a place where they might become easy victims 
to the enterprise of the warrior who had mounted the tree. 

“ This must be looked to !” said the scout, glancing about 
him with an anxious eye. “Uncas, call up your father; we 
have need of all our we’pons to bring the cunning varment 
from his roost.” 

The 'signal was instantly given ; and, before Hawk-eye had 
reloaded his rifle, they were joined by Chingachgook. When 
his son pointed out to the experienced w^arrior the situation of 
their dangerous enemy, the usual exclamatory “hugh” burst 
from his lips; after which, no further expression of surprise or 
alarm was suffered to escape him. Hawk-eye and the Mohi- 
cans conversed earnestly together in Delaware for a few moments. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 93 

when each quietly took liis post, in order to execute the plan 
they had speedily devised. 

The warrior in the oak had maintained a quick though 
ineffectual fire, from the moment of his discovery. But his aim 
was interrupted by the vigilance of his enemies, whose rifles 
instantaneously bore on any part of his person that was left 
exposed. Still his bullets fell in the centre of the crouching 
party. The clothes of Heyward, which rendered him peculiarly 
conspicuous, were repeatedly cut, and once blood was drawn 
from a slight wound in his arm. 

At length, emboldened b}^ the long and patient watchfulness 
of his enemies, the Huron attempted a better and more fatal 
aim. The quick eyes of the Mohicans caught the dark line of 
his lower limbs incautiously exposed through the thin foliage, 
a few inches from the trunk of the tree. Their rifles made a 
common report, when, sinking on his wounded limb, part of 
the body of the savage came into view. Swift as thought. 
Hawk-eye seized the advantage, and discharged his fatal weapon 
into the top of the oak. The leaves wer^tmusually agitated ; 
the dangerous rifle fell from its commanding elevation, and 
after a few moments of vain struggling, the form of the savage 
was seen swinging in the wind, while he still grasped a ragged 
and naked branch of the tree, with hands clenched in despera- 
tion. 

“ Give him, in pity give him, the contents of another rifle !” 
cried Duncan, turning away his eyes in horror from the specta- 
cle of a fellow creature in such awful jeopardy. 

“Not a karnel !” exclaimed the obdurate Hawk-eye ; “ his 
death is certain, and we have no powder to spare, for Indian 
fights sometimes last for days ; ’tis their scalps or ours ! — and 
God, who made us, has put into our natures the craving to 
keep the skin on the head !” 

Against this stern and unyielding morality, supported as it 
was by such visible policy, there was no appeal. From that 
moment the yells in the forest once more ceased, the fire was 
suflercd to decline, and all eyes, those of friends as well as 


94 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


enemies, became fixed on the hopeless condition of the wretch 
who was dangling between heaven and earth. The body 
yielded to the currents of air, and though no murmur or groan 
escaped the victim,, there were instants when he grimly faced 
his foes, and the anguish of cold despair might be traced, 
through th(^ intervening distance, in possession of his swarthy 
lineaments. Three several times the scout raised his piece in 
mercy, and as often prudence getting the better of his 
intention, it was again silently low^ered. At length one hand of 
the Huron lost its hold, and dropped exhausted to his side. A 
desperate and fruitless struggle to recover the branch succeeded, 
and then the savage w'as seen for a fleeting instant, grasp- 
ing wildly at the empty air. The lightning is not quicker than 
was the flame from the rifle of Hawk-eye ; the limbs of the vic- 
tim trembled and contracted, the head fell to the bosom, and 
the body parted the foaming waters like lead, when the element 
closed above it, in its ceaseless velocity, and every vestige of the 
unhappy Huron wiaiSost for ever. 

No shout of tri™j?ii succeeded this important advantage, but 
even the Mohicans gazed at each other in silent horror. A 
single yell burst from the woods, and all was again still. 
Hawk-eye, who alone appeared to reason on the occasion, shook 
his head at his own momentary weakness, even uttering his 
self-disapprobation aloud. 

“ ’ Twas the last charge in my horn, and the last bullet in 
my pouch, and ’twas the act of a boy !” he said ; “ what mattered 
it whether he struck the rock living or dead ! feeling would soon 
be over. Uncas, lad, go down to the canoe, and bring up the 
big horn ; it is all the powder we have left, and we shall need 
it to the last grain, or I am ignorant of the Mingo nature.” 

The young Mohican complied, leaving the scout turning over 
the useless contents of his pouch, and shaking the empt}’^ horn 
with renewed discontent. From this unsatisfactory examination, 
however, he was soon called by a loud and piercing exclamation 
from Uncas, that sounded, even to the unpractised ears of 
"Duncan, as the signal of some new and unexpected calamity. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


95 


Every tliought filled with apprehension for the precious treasure 
he had concealed in the cavern, the young man started to his 
feet, totally regardless of the hazard he incurred by such an 
exposure. As 'if actuated by a common impulse, his movement 
was imitated by his companions, and, together, they rushed 
down the pass to the friendly chasm, with a rapidity that 
rendered the scattering fire of their enemies perfectly harmless. 
The unwonted cry had brought the sisters, together with the 
wounded David, from their place of refuge ; and the whole 
party, at a single glance, was made acquainted with the nature 
of the disaster that had disturbed even the practised stoicism of 
their youthful Indian protector. 

At a short distance from the rock, their little bark was to be 
seen floating across the eddy, towards the swift current of the 
river, in a manner which proved that its course was directed by 
some hidden agent. The instant this unwelcome sight caught 
the eye of the scout, his rifle was levelled, as by instinct, but the 
barrel gave no answer to the bright sparkscK)f|the flint. 

“’Tis too late, ’tis too late !’ Ilawk-ey^^claimed, dropping 
the useless piece in bitter disappointment ; “ the miscreant has 
struck the rapid ; and had we powder, it could hardly send the 
lead swifter than he now goes !” 

The adventurous Huron raised his head above the shelter of 
the canoe, and while it glided swiftly down the stream, he waved 
his hand, and gave forth the shout, which was the known signal 
of success. His cry was answered by a yell and a laugh from 
the woods, as tauntingly exulting as if fifty demons were uttering 
their blasphemies at the fall of some Christian soul. 

“ Well may you laugh, ye children of the devil !” said the 
scout, seating himself on a projection of the rock, and suffering 
his gun to fall neglected at his feet, “ for the three quickest and 
truest rifles in these woods are no better than so many stalks of 
mullen, or the last year’s horns of a buck !” 

“ What is to be done ?” demanded Duncan, losing the first 
feeling of disappointment in a more manly desire for exertion ; 
“ what will become of us ?” 


96 


THE L A S I' OF THE M O H I C A N S . 


Hawk-eye made no other re|>ly than by passing his finger 
around the crown of his head, in a manner so significant, that 
none who witnessed the action could mistake its meaning. 

“ Surely, surely, our case is not so desperate !” exclaimed the 
youth ; “ the Ilurons are not here ; we may make good the 
caverns; we may oppose their landing.” 

“ With what ?” coolly demanded the scout. “ The arrows of 
Uncas, or such tears as women shed ! No, no; you are young, 
and rich, and have friends, and at such an age I know it is 
hard to die ! But,” glancing his eyes at the Mohicans, “ let us 
remember we are men without a cross, and let us teach these 
natives of the forest that white blood can run as freely as red, 
when the appointed hour is come.” 

Duncan turned quickly in the direction indicated by the 
other’s eyes, and read a confirmation of his worst apprehensions 
in the conduct of the Indians. Chingachgook, placing himself 
in a dignified posture on another fragment of the rock, had 
already laid aside his knife and tomahawk, and was in the act 
of taking the eagle’s 'plume from his head, and smoothing the 
solitary tuft of hair in readiness to perform its last and revolting 
office. His countenance was composed, though thoughtful, 
while his dark gleaming eyes were gradually losing the fierce- 
ness of the combat in an expression better suited to the change 
he expected momentarily to undergo. 

“ Our case is not, cannot be so hopeless !” said Duncan ; 
“ even at this very moment succor may be at hand. I see no 
enemies ! they have sickened of a struggle in which they risk 
so much with so little prospect of gain !” 

“ It may be a minute, or it may be an hour, afore the wily 
sarpents steal upon us, and it is quite in natur’ for them to be 
lying within hearing at this \’ery moment,” said Hawk-eye ; 
“ but come they will, and in such a fashion as will leave 
us nothing to hope ! Chingachgook” — he spoke in Dela 
ware — “ my brother, we have fought our last battle together, 
and the Maquas will triumph in the death of the sage 
man of the Mohicans, and of the pale face, whose eyes can 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 97 

make night as day, and level the clouds to the mists of the 
springs !” 

“ Let the Mingo women go weep over their slain !” returned 
the Indian, with characteristic pride and unmoved firmness ; 
“ the Great Snake of the Mohicans has coiled himself in their 
wigwams, and has poisoned their triumph with the wailings of 
children, whose fathers have not returned ! Eleven warriors lie 
hill froin the graves of their tribes since the snows have melted, 
and none will tell Avhere to find them when the tongue of 
Chingachgook shall be silent ! Let them draw the sharpest 
knife, and whirl the swiftest tomahawk, for their bitterest 
enemy is in their hands. Uncas, topmost branch of a noble 
tiiink, call on the co'svards to hasten or their hearts will soften, 
and they will change to women !” 

“ They look among the fishes for their dead !” returned the 
low, soft voice of the youthful chieftain ; “ the Hurons float with 
the slimy eels ! They drop from the oaks like fruit that is 
ready to be eaten ! and the Delawares laugh !” 

“ Ay, ay,” muttered the scout, who had listened to this 
peculiar burst of the natives with deep attention ; “ they have 
warmed their Indian feelings, and they’ll soon provoke the 
Maquas to give them a speedy end. As for me, who am of 
the whole blood of the whites, it is befitting that I should die 
as becomes my color, with no words of scoffing in my mouth, 
and without bitterness at the heart !” 

“ Why die at all !” said Cora, advancing from the place 
where natiiiM horror had, until this moment, held her riveted 
to the rock ; “ the path is open on every side ; fly, then, to the 
woods, and call on God for succor ! Go, brave men, we owe 
you too much already; let us no longer involve you in our 
hapless fortunes !” 

“ You but little know the craft of the Iroquois, lady, if you 
judge they have left the path open to the woods !” returned 
Hawk-eye, who, however, immediately added in his simplicity : 
“ the down stream current, it is certain, might soon sweep us 
beyond the reach of their rifles or the sounds of their voices.” 

5 


98 


THE LAS T OF THE MOHICAN S . 


“ Then try the river. Why linger, to add to the i umber of 
the victims of our merciless enemies ?” 

“ Why,” repeated the scout, looking about him proudly, 
‘‘because it is better for a man to die at peace with himself 
than to live haunted by an evil conscience! What answer 
could we give Munro, when he asked us where and how we 
left his children ?” 

“ Go to him, and say, that you left them with a message to 
hasten to their aid,” returned Cora, advancing nigher to the 
scout, in her generous ardor ; “ that the Hurons bear them 
into the northern wilds, but that by vigilance and speed they 
may yet be rescued ; and if, after all, it should please heaven 
that his assistance come too late, bear to him,” she continued, 
her voice gradually lowering, until it seemed nearly choked, 
“ the love, the blessings, the final prayers of his daughters, and 
bid him not mourn their early fate, but to look forward with 
humble confidence to the Christian’s goal to meet his children.” 

The hard, w'eather-beaten features of the scout began to 
work, and when she had ended, he dropped his chin to 
his hand, like a man musing profoundly on the nature of the 
proposal. 

“ There is reason in her words !” at length broke from his 
compressed and trembling lips ; “ ay, and they bear the spirit 
of Christianity ; what might be right and proper in a red skin, 
may be sinful in a man who has not even a cross in blood to 
plead for his ignorance. Chingachgook ! Uncas 1 hear you the 
talk of the dark-eyed woman !” 

He now spoke in Delaware to his companions, and his ad- 
dress, though calm and deliberate, seemed very decided. The 
elder Mohican heard him with deep gravity, and appeared to 
ponder on his words, as though he felt the importance of their 
import. After a moment of hesitation, he waved his hand in 
assent, and uttered the English word “ Good ” with the pecu- 
liar emphasis of his people. Then, replacing his knife and 
tomahawk in his girdle, the warrior moved silently to the edge of 
the rock which was most concealed from the banks of the river. 


THE LAST OF T M O H I C A N S'. 


99 


Here he paused a moment, pointed significantly to the woods 
below, and saying a few words in his own language, as if indi- 
cating his intended route, he dropped into the water, and sank 
from before the eyes of the witnesses of his movements. 

I'he scout delayed his departure to speak to the generous 
girl, whose breathing became lighter as she saw the success of 
her remonstrance. 

“ Wisdom is sometimes given to the young, as well as to the 
old,” he said ; “ and what you have spoken is wise, not to call 
it by a better word. If you are led into the woods, that is 
such of you as may be spared for a while, break the twigs on 
the bushes as you pass, and make the marks of your trail as 
broad as you can, when, if mortal eyes can see them, depend on 
having a friend who will follow to the ends of ’arth afore 
he desarts you.” 

He gave Cora an affectionate shake of the hand, lifted his 
rifle, and after regarding it a moment with melancholy solici- 
tude, laid it carefully aside, and descended to the place where 
Chingachgook had just disappeared. For an instant he hung 
suspended by the rock ; and looking about him, with a counte- 
nance of peculiar care, he added, bitterly, “ Had the powder 
held out, this disgrace could never have befallen !” then, loosen- 
ing his hold, the water closed above his head, and he also be- 
came lost to view. 

All eyes were now turned on Uncas, who stood leaning 
against the ragged rock, in immovable composure. After 
waiting a short time, Cora pointed down the river, and 
said : — 

“ Your fiiends have not been seen, and are now, most 
probably, in safety ; is it not time for you to follow ?” 

“ Uncas will stay,” the young Mohican calmly answered in 
English. 

“ To increase the horror of our capture, and to diminish the 
chances of our release ! Go, generous young man,” Cora con- 
tinued, lowering her eyes under the gaze of the Mohican, and, 
perhaps, with an intuitive consciousness of her power ; “ go to 


100 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


my father, as I have said, and be the most confidential of my 
messengers. Tell him to trust you with the means to buy the 
freedom of his daughters. Go ! ’tis my wish, ’tis my prayer, 
that you will go !” 

The settled, calm look of the young chief changed to an ex- 
pression of gloom, but he no longer hesitated. With a noiseless 
step he crossed the rock, and dropped into the troubled 
stream. Hardly a breath was drawn by those he left behind, 
until they caught a glimpse of his head emerging for air, 
far down the current, when he again sank, and was seen no 
more. 

These sudden and apparently successful experiments had all 
taken place in a few minutes of that time which had now 
become so precious. After the last look at Uncas, Cora 
turned, and, with a quivering lip, addressed herself to Hey- 
ward : — 

“ I have heard of your boasted skill in the water, too, Dun- 
can,” she said ; “ follow, then, the wise example set you by these 
simple and faithful beings.” 

“ Is such the faith that Cora Munro would exact from her 
protector ?” said the young man, smiling mournfully, but with 
bitterness. 

“ This is not a time for idle subtleties and false opinions,” 
she answered ; “ but a moment wl^^en every duty should be 
equally considered. To us you can be of no further service 
here, but your precious life may be saved for other and nearer 
friends.” 

He made no reply, though his eyes fell wistfully on the beau- 
tiful form of Alice, who was clinging to his arm with tlie de- 
pendency of an infant. 

“ Consider,” continued Cora, after a pause during which 
she seemed to struggle with a pang even more acute than any 
that her fears had excited, “ that the worst to us can be but 
death ; a tribute that all must pay at the good time of God’s 
appointment.” 

“ There are evils worse than death,” said Duncan, speaking 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


101 


hoarsely, and as if fretful at her importunity, “ but which the 
presence of one who would die in your behalf may avert.” 

Cora ceased her entreaties ; and, veiling her face in her shawl, 
drew the nearly insensible Alice after her into the deepest re- 
cess of the inner cavern. 


102 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER IX. 


Dispel, my fair, with smiles, the tim’rous clouds. 
That hang on thy clear brow.” 


Be gay securely ; 


Death ok Agrippina. 



The sudden and almost magical change, '^from the stirring in- 
cidents of the combat to the stillness jthat now reigned around 
him, acted on the heated imagination of Heyward like some ex- 
citing dream. While all the images and events he had wit- 
nessed remained deeply impressed on his memory, he fel^ a dif- - 
ficulty in persuading himself of their truth. Still ignorant of the 
fate of those who had trusted to the aid of the swift current, he 
at first listened intently to any signal, or sounds of alarm, which 
might announce the good or evil fortune of their hazardous un- 
dertaking. His attention was, however, bestowed in vain ; for, 
with the disappearance of Uncas, every sign of the adventurers 
had been lost, leaving him in total uncertainty of their fate. 

In a moment of such painful doubt, Duncan did not hesitate 
to look about him, without consulting that protection from the 
rocks which just before had been so necessary, to' his safety. 
Every effort, however, to detect the least evidence of the ap- 
proach of their hidden enemies, was as fruitless as the inquiry 
after his late companions. The wooded banks of the rivers 
seemed ag^. deserted by everything possessing animal life. 
The uprd^ Ivhich had so lately echoed through the vaults of 
the forest was gone, leaving the rush of the waters to swell and 
sink on the currents of the air, in the unmingled sweetness of 
nature. A fish-hawk, which, secure on the topmost branches of 
a dead pine, had been a distant spectator of »the fray, now 
stooped from his high and ragged perch, and soared, in wide 
§l<feps, above his prey; while a jay, whose noisy voice had 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


103 


been stilled by the hoarser cries of the savages, ventured again 
to open his discordant throat, as though once more in undis- 
turbed possession of his wild domains. Duncan caught from 
these natural accompaniments of the solitary scene a glim- 
mering of hope ; and he began to rally his faculties to renewed 
exertions, with something like a reviving confidence of success. 

- “ The Ilurons are not to be seen,” he said, addressing David, 

^ who had by no means recovered from the effects of the stunning 
blow he had received ; “ let us conceal ourselves in the cavern, 
and trust the rest to Providence.” 

“ I remember to* have united with two comely maidens, in 
lifting up our voices in praise and thanksgiving,” returned the 
bewildered singing-master; “since which time I have been 
visited by a heavy judgment for my sins. I have been mocked 
with the likeness of sleep, while sounds of discord have rent my 
ears, such as might manifest the fulness of time, and that nature 
had forgotten her harmony.” 

“ Poor fellow ! thine own period was, in truth, near its 
accomplishment ! But arouse, and come with me ; I will lead 
you where all other sounds but those of your own psalmody 
shall be excluded.” 

“ There is melody in the fall of the cataract, and the rushing 
of many waters is sweet to the senses !” said David, pressing 
his hand confusedly on his brow. “ Is not the air yet filled 
with shrieks and cries, as though the departed spirits of the 
damned — ” 

“ Not now, not now,” interrupted the impatient Heyward, 
“they have ceased, and they who raised them, I trust in God, 
they are gone too! everything but the water i still and at 
peace ; in then, where you may create those sounds you love so 
well to hear.” 

'David smiled sadly, though not without a momentary gleam 
of pleasure, at this allusion to his beloved vocation. He no 
longer liesitated *'^ be led to a spot which promised such unal- 
loyed gratification to his wearied senses ; and, leaning on the 
arm of Jiis companion, he entered the narrow mouth of the 

■ A ^ 


104 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


*cave. Duncan seized a pile of the sassafras, which he drew 
before the passage, studiously concealing every appearance of 
an aperture. Within this fragile barrier he arranged the 
blankets abandoned by the foresters, darkening the inner ex- 
tremity of the cavern, while its outer received a chastened light 
from the narrow ra\dne, through which one arm of the river 
rushed, to form the junction with its sister branch, a few rods 
below. 

“ I like not that principle of the natives, which teaches them 
to submit without a struggle, in emergencies that appear 
desperate,” he said, while busied in this employment ; “ our 
own maxim, which says, ‘ while life remains there is hope,’ is 
more consoling, and better suited to a soldier’s temperament. 
To you, Cora, I will urge no words of idle encouragement ; your 
own fortitude and undisturbed reason will teach you all that 
may become your sex ; but cannot we dry the tears of that 
trembling weeper on your bosom ?” 

“ I am calmer, Duncan,” said Alice, raising herself from the 
arms of her sister, and forcing an appearance of composure 
through her tears ; “ much calmer, now. Surely, in this hidden 
spot we are safe, we are secret, free from injury ; we will hope 
everything from those generous men who have risked so much 
already in our behalf,” 

“Now does our gentle Alice speak like a daughter of 
Munro !” said Heyward, pausing to press her hand as he passed 
towards the outer entrance of the cavern. “ With two such 
examples of courage before him, a man would be ashamed to 
prove other than a hero.” He then seated himself in the 
centre of the cavern, grasping his remaining pistol with a hand 
convulsively clenched, while his contracted and frowning eye 
announced the sullen desperation of his purpose. “The 
Hurons, if they come, may not gain our position so easily as 
they think,” he lowly muttered ; and dropping his head back 
against the rock, he seemed to await the result in patience, 
though his gaze was unceasingly bent on the open avenue to 
their place of retreat. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


105 


With the last sound of his voice, a deep, a long, and almost 
breathless silence succeeded. The fresh air of the mornino- had 
penetrated the recess, and its influence was gradually felt on the 
spirits of its inmates. As minute after minute passed by, 
leaving them in undisturbed security, the insinuating feeling of 
hope was gradually gaining possession of every bosom, though 
each one felt reluctant to give utterance to expectations that the 
next moment might so fearfully destroy. 

David alone formed an exception to these varying emotions. 
A gleam of light from the opening crossed his wan counte- 
nance, and fell upon the pages of the little volume, whose leaves 
he was again occupied in turning, as if searching for some song 
more fitted to their condition than any that had yet met his eye. 
He was, most probably, acting all this time under a confused 
recollection of the promised consolation of Duncan. At length, 
it would seem, his patient industry found its reward ; for, with- 
out explanation or apology, he pronounced aloud the words 
“ Isle of Wight,” drew a long, sweet sound from his pitch-pipe, 
and then ran through the preliminary modulations of the air, 
whose name he had just mentioned, with the sweeter tones of 
his own musical voice. 

“ May not this prove dangerous ?” asked Cora, glancing her 
dark eye at Major Heyward. 

“ Poor fellow ! his voice is too feeble to be heard amid the din 
of the falls,” was the answer ; “ besides, the cavern will prove 
his friend. Let him indulge his passion, since it may be done 
without hazard.” 

“ Isle of Wight !” repeated David, looking about him with 
that dignity with which he had long been wont to silence the 
whispering echoes of his school ; “ ’tis a brave tune, and set to 
solemn words ; let it be sung with meet respect !” 

After allowing a moment of stillness to enforce his discipline, 
the voice of the singer was heard, in low', murmuring syllables, 
gradually stealing on the ear, until it filled the narrow vault 
with sounds rendered trebly thrilling by the feeble and tremu- 
lous utterance produced by his debility. The melody, which 
: 5 ^* 


106 


THE LAST OF T HE MOHICANS. 


no weakness could destroy, gradually wrought its sweet influence 
on the senses of those who heard it. It even prevailed over the 
miserable travesty of the song of David which the singer had 
selected from a volume of similar effusions, and caused the 
sense to be forgotten in the insinuating harmony of the sounds. 
Alice unconsciously dried her tears, and bent her melting eyes 
on the pallid features of Gamut, with an expression of chastened 
delight that she neither affected nor wished to conceal. Cora 
bestowed an approving smile on the pious efforts of the name- 
sake of the Jewish prince, and Heyward soon turned his steady, 
stern look from the outlet of the cavern, to fasten it, with a 
milder character, on the face of David, or to meet the wander- 
ing beams which at moments strayed from the humid eyes of 
Alice. The open sympathy of the listeners stirred the spirit of 
the votary of music, whose voice regained its richness and 
volume, without losing that touching softness which proved its 
secret charm. Exerting his renovated powers to their utmost, 
he was yet filling the arches of the cave with long and full 
tones, when a yell burst into the air without, that instantly 
stilled his pious strains, choking his voice suddenly, as 
though his heart had literally bounded into the passage of his 
throat. 

“We are lost!” exclaimed Alice, throwing herself into the 
arms of Cora. 

“Not yet, not yet,” returned the agitated but undaunted 
Heyward ; “ the sound came from the centre of the island, and 
it has been produced by the sight of their dead companions. 
We are not yet discovered, and there is still hope.” 

Faint and almost despairing as was the prospect of escape, 
the words of Duncan were not thrown away, for it awakened 
the powers of the sisters in such a manner, that they awaited 
the result in silence. A second yell soon followed the first, 
when a rush of voices was heard pouring down the island, from 
its upper to its lower extremity, until they reached the naked 
rock above the caverns, where, after a shout of savage triumph, 
the air continued full of horrible cries and screams, such as man 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


107 


alone can utter, and he only when in a state of the fiercest 
barbarity. 

The sounds quickly spread around them in every direction. 
Some called to their fellows from the water’s edge, and were 
answered from the heights above. Cries were heard in the 
startling vicinity of the chasm between the two caves, which 
mingled with hoarser yells that arose out of the abyss of the 
deep ravine. In short, so rapidly had the savage sounds dif- 
fused themselves over the barren rock, that it was not difficult 
for the anxious listeners to imagine they could be heard beneath, 
as in truth they were above, and on every side of them. 

In the midst of this tumult, a triumphant yell was raised 
within a few yards of the hidden entrance to the cave. Hey- 
ward abandoned every hope, with the belief it was the signal 
that they were discovered. Again the impression passed away, 
as he heard the voices collect near the spot where the white 
man had so reluctantly abandoned his rifle. Amid the jargon 
of the Indian dialects that he now plainly heard, it was easy to 
distinguish not only words, but sentences, in the patois of the 
Canadas. A burst of voices had shouted simultaneously, “ La 
longue Carabine I” causing the opposite woods to re-echo with 
a name which, Heyward well remembered, had been given by 
his enemies to a celebrated hunter and scout of the English 
camp, and who, he now learnt for the first time, had been his 
late companion. 

“ La longue Carabine ! la longue Carabine !” passed from 
mouth to mouth, until the whole band appeared to be collected 
around a trophy which would seem to announce the death of 
its formidable owner. After a vociferous consultation, which was, 
at times, deafened by bursts of savage joy, they again separated, 
filling the air with the name of a foe, whose body, Heyward 
could collect from their expressions, they hoped to find concealed 
in some crevice of the island. 

“ Now,” he whispered to the trembling sisters, “ now is the 
moment of uncertainty! if our place of retreat escape this 
scrutiny, we are still safe ! In every event, we are assured, by 


108 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

what has fallen from our enemies, that our friends have 
escaped, and in two short hours we may look for succor from 
Webb.” 

There were now a few minutes of fearful stillness, during 
which Heyward well knew that the savages conducted their 
search with greater vigilance and method. More than once he 
could distinguish their footsteps, as they brushed the sassafras, 
causing the faded leaves to rustle, and the branches to snap. 
At length, the pile yielded a little, a corner of a blanket fell, 
and a faint ray of light gleamed into the inner part of the 
cave. Cora folded Agnes to her bosom in agony, and 
Duncan sprang to his feet. A shout was at that moment 
heard, as if issuing from the centre of the rock, announcing 
that the neighboring cavern had at length been entered. In 
a minute, the number and loudness of the voices indicated 
that the whole party was collected in and around that secret 
place. 

As the inner passages to the two caves were so close to 
each other, Duncan, believing that escape was no longer 
possible, passed David and the sisters, to place himself between 
the latter and the first onset of the terrible meeting. Grown 
desperate by his situation, he drew nigh the slight barrier 
which separated him only by a few feet from his relentless 
pursuers, and placing his face to the casual opening, he even 
looked out, with a sort of desperate indifference, on their 
movements. 

Within reach of his arm was the brawny shoulder of a 
gigantic Indian, whose deep and authoritative voice appeared 
to give directions to the proceedings of his fellows. Beyond 
him again, Duncan could look into the vault opposite, which 
was filled with savages, upturning and rifling the humble furni- 
ture of the scout. The wound of David had dyed the leaves of 
sassafras with a color that the natives well knew was anticif 
pating the season. Over this sign of their success, they set up 
a howl, like an opening from so many hounds who had 
recovered a lost trail. After this yell of victory, they tore up 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 109 

the fragrant bed of the cavern, and bore the branches into the 
chasm, scattering the boughs, as if they suspected them of con- 
cealing the person of the man they had so long hated and 
feared. One fierce and wild-looking warrior approached the 
chief, bearing a load of the brush, and pointing, exultingly, to 
the deep red stains with which it was sprinkled, uttered his joy 
in Indian yells, whose meaning Heyward was only enabled to 
comprehend by the frequent repetition of the name of “ La 
longue Carabine !” When his triumph had ceased, he cast the 
brush on the slight heap that Duncan had made before the 
entrance of the second cavern, and closed the view. His 
example was followed by others, who, as they drew the branches 
from the cave of the scout, threw them into one pile, adding, 
unconsciously, to the security of those they sought. The verj) 
slightness of the defence was its chief merit, for no one thought 
of disturbing a mass of brush, which all of them believed, in that 
moment of hurry and confusion, had been accidentally raised by 
the hands of their own party. 

As the blankets yielded before the outward pressure, and 
the branches settled in the fissure of the rock by their own 
weight, forming a compact body, Duncan once more breathed 
freely. With a light step, and lighter heart, he returned to the 
centre of the cave, and took the place he had left, where he 
could command a view of the opening next the river. While 
he was in the act of making this movement, the Indians, as if 
changing their purpose by a common impulse, broke away from 
the chasm in a body, and were heard rushing up the island 
again, towards the point whence they had originally descended. 
Here another wailing cry betrayed that they were again col- 
lected around the bodies of their dead comrades. 

Duncan now ventured to look at his companions ; for, during 
the most critical moments of their danger, he had been appre- 
hensive that the anxiety of his countenance might communicate 
some additional alarm to those who were so little able to sus- 
tain it. 

“The}’’ are gone, Cora!” he whispered; “Alice, they are 


§ 


110 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


returned whence they came, and we are saved ! To heaven, 
that has alone delivered us from the grasp of so merciless an 
enemy, be all the praise !” 

“ Then to heaven will I return my thanks !” exclaimed the 
younger sister, rising from the encircling arms of Cora, and 
casting herself with enthusiastic gratitude on the naked rock ; 
“ to that heaven who has spared the tears of a grey-headed 
father ; has saved the lives of those T so much love — ” 

Both Heyward, and the more tempered Cora, witnessed the 
act of involuntary emotion with powerful sympathy, the former 
secretly believing that piety had never worn a form so lovely as 
it had now assumed in the youthful person of Alice. Her eyes 
were radiant with the glow of grateful feelings ; the flush of her 
beauty was again seated on her cheeks, and her whole soul 
seemed ready and anxious to pour out its thanksgivings, through 
the medium of her eloquent features. But when her lips moved, 
the words they should have uttered appeared frozen by some 
new and sudden chill. Her bloom gave place to the paleness 
of death ; her soft and melting eyes grew hard, and seemed 
contracting with horror; while those hands, which she had 
raised, clasped in each other, towards heaven, dropped in 
horizontal lines before her, the fingers pointed forward in 
convulsed motion. Heyward turned, the instant she gave a 
direction to his suspicions, and, peering just above the ledge 
which formed the threshold of the open outlet of the cavern, he 
beheld the malignant, fierce, and savage features of Le Renard 
Subtil. 

In that moment of surprise, the self-possession of Heyward did 
not desert him. He observed by the vacant expression of the 
Indian’s countenance, that his eye, accustomed to the open air, 
had not yet been able to penetrate the dusky light which 
pervaded the depth of the cavern. He had even thought of 
retreating beyond a curvature in the natural wall, which might 
still conceal him and his companions, when, by the sudden 
gleam of intelligence that shot across the features of the savage, 
he saw it was too late, and that they were betrayed. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Ill 


The look of exultation and brutal triumph which anaounced 
this terrible truth was irresistibly irritating. Forgetful of every- 
thing but the impulses of his hot blood, Duncan levelled his 
pistol and fired. The report of the weapon made the cavern 
bellow like an eruption from a volcano ; and when the smoke it 
vomited had been driven away before the current of air which 
issued from the ravine, the place so lately occupied by the 
features of his treacherous guide was vacant. Hushing to the 
outlet, Heyward caught a glimpse of his dark figure, stealing 
around a low and narrow ledge, which soon hid him entirely 
from sight. 

Among the savages, a frightful stillness succeeded the 
explosion, which had just been heard bursting from the bowels 
of the rock. But when Le Renard raised his voice in a long 
and intelligible whoop, it was answered by a spontaneous yell 
from the mouth of every Indian within hearing of the sound. 
The clamorous noises again rushed down the island ; and before 
Duncan had time to recover fi-om the shock, his feeble barrier of 
brush was scattered to the winds, the cavern was entered at 
both its extremities, and he and his companions were dragged 
from their shelter and borne into the day, where they stood 
surrounded by the whole band of the triumphant Hurons. 


11‘2 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER X. 

“ 1 fear we shall outsleep the coining morn, 

As much as we this night have overwatched !” 

Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

The instant the shock of this sudden misfortune had abated, 
Duncan began to make his observations on the appearance and 
proceedings of their captors. Contrary to the usages of the 
natives in the wantonness of their success, they had respected, 
not only the persons of the trembling sisters, but his own. The 
rich ornaments of his military attire had indeed been repeatedly 
handled by different individuals of the tribe with eyes expressing 
a savage longing to possess the baubles; but before the 
customary violence could be resorted to, a mandate in the 
authoritative voice of the large warrior already mentioned, 
stayed the uplifted hand, and convinced Heyward that they 
were to be reserved for some object of particular moment. 

AVhile, however, these manifestations of weakness were 
exhibited by the young and vain of the party, the more 
experienced warriors continued their search throughout both 
caverns, with an activity that denoted they were far from being 
satisfied with those fruits of their conquest which had already 
been brought to light. Unable to discover any new victim, 
these diligent workers of vengeance soon approached their male 
prisoners, pronouncing the name of “ La longue Carabine,” with 
a fierceness that could not easily be mistaken. Duncan affected 
not to comprehend the meaning of their repeated and violent 
interrogatories, while his companion was spared the effort of a 
similar deception by his ignorance of French. Wearied, at 
length, by their importunities, and apprehensive of irritating his 
captors by too stubborn a silence, the former looked about him 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


113 


ill quest of Magna, ivlio might interpret liis answers to questions 
which were, at each moment, becoming more earnest and 
threatening. 

The conduct of this savage had formed a solitary exception 
to that of all his fellows. While the others were busily 
occupied in seeking to gratify their childish passion for finery, 
by plundering even the miserable effects of the scout, or had 
been searching, with such blood-thirsty vengeance in their 
looks, for their absent owner, Le Kenard had stood at a little 
distance from the prisoners,’witli a demeanor so quiet and satis- 
fied, as to betray that he had already effected the grand purpose 
of his treachery. When the eyes of Heyward first met those 
of his recent guide, he turned them away in horror at the 
sinister though calm look he encountered. Conquering his 
disgust, however, he was able, with an averted face, to address 
his successful enemy — 

“Le Renard Subtil is too much of a warrior,” said the 
reluctant Heyward, “ to refuse telling an unarmed man what 
his conquerors say.” 

“ They ask for the hunter who knows the paths through the 
woods,” returned Magua, in his broken English, laying his 
hand, at the same time, with a ferocious smile, on the bundle 
of leaves with which a wound on his own shoulder was 
bandaged. “ La longue Carabine ! his rifle is good, and his eye 
never shut ; but, like the short gun of the white chief, it is 
nothin.^ against the life of Le Subtil !” 

“ Le Renard is too brave to remember the hurts received in 
wai’, or the hands that gave them !” 

“ Was it war, when the tired Indian rested at the sugar-tree 
to taste his corn ! who filled the bushes with creeping enemies ! 
who drew the knife ! whose tongue was peace, while his heart 
was colored with blood ! Did Magua say that the hatchet was 
out of the ground, and that his hand had dug it up ?” 

As Duncan dared not retort upon his accuser by reminding 
him of his own premeditated treachery, and disdained to 
<leprecate his resentment by any words of apology, he remained 


114 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


silent. Magua seemed also content to rest the controversy as 
well as all further communication there, for he resumed the 
leaning attitude against the rock, from which, in momentary 
energy, he had arisen. But the cry of “ La longue Carabine” 
was renewed the instant the impatient savages perceived that 
the short dialogue was ended. 

“ You hear,” said Magua, with stubborn indifference ; “ the 
red Ilurons call for the life of ‘ The long Rifle,’ or they will 
have the blood of them that keep him hid !” 

“ He is gone — escaped ; he is far beyond their reach.” 

Renard smiled with cold contempt, as he answered — 

“ When the white man dies, he thinks he is at peace ; but 
the red men know how to torture even the ghosts of their ene- 
mies. Where is his body ? Let the Hurons see his scalp 1” 

“ He is not dead, but escaped.” 

Magua shook his head incredulously. 

“ Is he a bird, to spread his wings ; or is he a fish, to swim 
without air ! The white chief reads in his books, and he 
believes the Hurons are fools !” 

“ Though no fish, ‘ The long Rifle’ can swim. He floated 
down the stream when the powder was all burnt, and when 
the eyes of the Hurons were behind a cloud.” 

“ And why did the white chief stay ?” demanded the still 
incredulous Indian. “ Is he a stone that goes to the bottom, 
or does the scalp burn his head ?” 

“ That I am not a stone, your dead comrade, who fell into 
the falls, might answer, were the life still in him,” said the pro- 
voked young man, using, in his anger, that boastful language 
which was most likely to excite the admiration of an Indian. 
“ The white man thinks none but cowards desert their women.” 

Magua muttered a few words, inaudibly, between his teeth, 
before he continued, aloud — 

“Can the Delawares swim, too, as well as crawl in the 
bushes ? Where is ‘ Le gros Serpent ?’ ” 

Duncan, who perceived by the use of these Canadian appel- 
lations, that his late companions were much better known to 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. ll.^J 

his eueinies than to himself, answered, reluctantly, “ He also is 
gone down with the water.” 

“ ‘ Le Cerf agile’ is not here ?” 

“ I know not whom you call ‘ The nimble Deer,’ ” said Dun- 
can, gladly profiting by any excuse to create delay. 

“ Uncas,” returned Magua, pronouncing the Delaware name 
with even greater difficulty than he spoke his English words. 
“ ‘ Bounding Elk’ is what the white man says, when he calls to 
the Young Mohican.” 

“ Here is some confusion in names betw'eeii us, Le Renard,” 
said Duncan, hoping to provoke a discussion. “ Daim is the 
French for deer, and cerf for stag ; 61an is the true term, when 
one would speak of an elk.” 

“ Yes,” muttered the Indian, in his native tongue ; “ the pale 
faces are prattling women ! they have two words for each thing, 
while a red skin will make the sound of his voice speak for 
him.” Then changing his language, he continued, adhering to 
the imperfect nomenclature of his provincial instructors, “ The 
deer is swift, but weak ; the elk is swift, but strong ; and the 
son of ‘ Le Serpent’ is ‘ Le Cerf agile.’ Has he leaped the river 
to the woods ?” 

“ If you mean the younger Delaware, he too is gone down 
with the water.” 

As there was nothing improbable to an Indian in the man- 
ner of the escape, Magua admitted the truth of what he had 
heard, with a readiness that afforded additional evidence how 
little he would prize such worthless captives. With his com- 
panions, however, the feeling was manifestly different. 

The Hurons had awaited the result of this short dialogue 
with characteristic patience, and with a silence that increased 
until there was a general stillness in the band. When Hey- 
ward ceased to speak, they turned their eyes, as one man, on 
Magua, demanding, in this expressive manner, an explanation 
of what had been said. Their interpreter pointed to the river, 
and made them acquainted with the result, as much by the 
action as by the few words he uttered. When the fact was 


116 


THE 1. AST OF THE MOHICANS. 


generally understood, the savages raised a frightful yell, which 
declared the extent of their disappointment. Some ran furi- 
ously to the water’s edge, beating the air with frantic gestures, 
while others spat upon the element, to resent the supposed trea- 
son it had committed against their acknowledged rights as con- 
querors. A few, and they not the least powerful and terrific of 
the band, threw lowering looks, in which the fiercest passion 
was only tempered by habitual self-command, at those captives 
who still remained in their power ; while one or two even gave 
vent to their malignant feelings by the most menacing gestures, 
against which neither the sex nor the beauty of the sisters was 
any protection. The young soldier made a desperate, but fruit- 
less eftbrt, to spring to the side of Alice, when he saw the dark 
hand of a savage twisted in the rich tresses which were flowing 
in volumes over her shoulders, while a knife was passed around 
the head from which they fell, as if to denote the horrid man- 
ner in which it was about to be robbed of its beautiful orna- 
ment. But his hands -were bound ; and at the first movement 
he made, he felt the grasp of the powerful Indian who directed 
the band, pressing his shoulder like a vice. Immediately con- 
scious how unavailing any struggle against such an over- 
whelming force must prove, he submitted to his fate, encou- 
raging his gentle companions by a few low and tender assur- 
ances, that the natives seldom failed to threaten more than they 
performed. 

But, while Duncan resorted to these words of consolation to 
quiet the apprehensions of the sisters, he was not so weak as to 
deceive himself. He well knew that the authority of an Indian 
chief was so little conventional, that it w^as oftener maintained 
by physical superiority than by any moral supremacy he might 
possess. The danger was, therefore, magnified exactly in pro- 
portion to the number of the savage spirits by which they were 
surrounded. The most positive mandate from him who seemed 
the acknowledged leader, was liable to be violated at each 
moment, by any rash hand that might choose to sacrifice a 
victim to the manes of some dead friend or relative. While, 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. Il7 

therefore, he sustained an outward appearance of calmness and 
fortitude, his heart leaped into his throat, whenever any of their 
fierce captors drew nearer than common to the helpless sisters, 
or fastened one of their sullen wanderino* looks on those frao-ile 
forms which were so little able to resist the slightest assault. 

His apprehensions were, however, greatly relieved, when he 
saw that the leader had summoned his warriors to himself in 
council. Their deliberations were short, and it would seem, bv 
the silence of most of the party, the decision unanimous. By 
the frequency wuth which the few speakers pointed in the 
direction of the encampment of Webb, it w’as apparent they 
dreaded the approach of danger from that quarter. This 
consideration probably hastened their determination, and quick- 
ened the subsequent movements. 

During this short conference, Heyward, finding a respite from 
his greatest fears, had leisure to admire the cautious manner in 
which the Hurons had made their approaches, even after hosti- 
lities had ceased. 

It has already been stated, that the upper half of the island 
was a naked rock, and destitute of any other defences than a 
few scattered logs of drift wood. They had selected this point 
to make iheir descent, having borne the canoe through the 
wood around the cataract for that purpose. Placing their arms 
in the little vessel, a dozen men clinging to its sides had trusted 
themselves to the direction of the canoe, which was controlled 
by two of the most skilful warriors, in attitudes that enabled 
them to command a view of the dangerous passage. Favored 
by this arrangement, they touched the head of the island at 
that point which had proved so fatal to their first adventurers, 
but with the advantages of superior numbers, and the posses- 
sion of fire arms. That such had been the manner of their 
descent was rendered quite apparent to Duncan ; for they now 
bore the light bark from the upper end of the rock, and placed 
it in the water, near the mouth of the outer cavern. As soon 
.'IS this change was made, the leader made signs to the 
prisoners to descend and enter. 


118 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

As resistance was impossible, and remonstrance useless, Hey- 
ward set the example of submission, by leading the way into 
the canoe, where he was soon seated with the sisters, and the 
still wondering David. Notwithstanding the Hurons were 
necessarily ignorant of the little channels among the eddies and 
rapids of the stream, they knew the common signs of such a 
navigation too well to commit any material blunder. When 
the pilot chosen for the task of guiding the canoe had taken 
his station, the whole band plunged again into the river, the 
vessel glided down the current, and in a few moments the 
captives found themselves on the south bank of the stream, 
nearly opposite to the point where they had struck it the 
preceding evening. 

Here was held another short but earnest consultation, during 
which the horses, to whose panic their owners ascribed their 
heaviest misfortune, were led from the cover of the woods, and 
brought to the sheltered spot. The band now divided. The 
great chief so often mentioned, mounting the charger of Hey- 
ward, led the way directly across the river, followed by most of 
his people, and disappeared in the woods, leaving the prisoners 
in charge of six savages, at whose head was Le Renard Subtil. 
Duncan witnessed all their movements with renewed uneasiness. 

He had been fond of believing, from the uncommon forbear- 
ance of the savages, that he was reserved as a prisoner to be 
delivered to Montcalm. As the thoughts of those who are in 
misery seldom slumber, and the invention is never more lively 
than when it is stimulated by hope, however feeble and remote, 
he had even imagined that the parental feelings of Munro were 
to be made instrumental in seducing him from his duty to the 
king. For though the French commander bore a high charac- 
ter for courage and enterprise, he was also thought to be ex]>ert 
in those political practices, which do not always respect the 
nicer obligations of morality, and which so generally disgraced 
the European diplomacy of that period. 

All those busy and ingenious speculations were now annihi- 
lated by the conduct of his captors. That portion of the band 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


119 


who had followed the huge warrior took the route towards the 
foot of the Horican, and no other expectation was left for him- 
self and companions, than that they were to be retained as 
hopeless captives by their savage conquerors. Anxious to know 
the worst, and willing, in such an emergency, to try the potency 
of gold, he overcame his reluctance to speak to Magua. Ad- 
dressing himself to his former guide, who had now assumed the 
authority and manner of one who was to direct the future 
movements of the party, he said, in tones as friendly and con- 
fiding as he could assume — 

“ I would speak to Magua, what is fit only for so great a 
chief to hear.” 

The Indian turned his eyes on the young soldier scornfully, 
as he answered — 

“ Speak ; trees have no ears !” 

“ But the red ITurons are not deaf ; and counsel that is fit 
for the great men of a nation would make the young warriors 
drunk. If Magua will not listen, the officer of the king knows 
how to be silent.” 

The savage spoke carelessly to his comrades, who were busied, 
after their awkward manner, in preparing the horses for the 
reception of the sisters, and moved a little to one side, whither, 
by a cautious gesture, he induced Heyward to follow. 

“ Now speak,” he said ; “ if the words are such as Magua 
should hear.” 

“ Le Renard Subtil has proved himself worthy of the honor- 
able name given to him by his Canada fathers,” commenced 
Heyward ; “ I see his wisdom, and all that he has done for us, 
and shall remember it, when the hour to reward him arrives. 
Yes ! Renard has proved that he is not only a great chief in 
council, but one who knows how to deceive his enemies !” 

“ What has Renard done ?” coldly demanded the Indian. 

“ What ! has he not seen that the woods were filled with 
outlying parties of the enemies, and that the serpent could not 
steal through them without being seen ? Then, did he not 
lose his path to blind the eyes of the Hurons ? Did he not 


120 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


pretend to go back to his tribe, who liad treated him ill, and 
driven him from their wigwams like a dog ? And, when we 
saw what he wished to do, did we not aid him, by making a 
false face, that the Hurons might think the white man believed 
that his friend was his enemy ? Is not all this true ? And 
when Le Subtil had shut the eyes and stopped the ears of his 
nation by his wisdom, did they not forget that they had once 
done him wrong, and forced him to flee to the Mohawks ? And 
did they not leave him on the south side of the river, with 
their prisoners, while they have gone foolishly on the north ? 
Does not Renard mean to turn like a fox on his footsteps, and 
carry to the rich and grey-headed Scotchman his daughters ? 
Yes, Magua, I see it all, and I have already been thinking how 
so much wisdom and honesty should be repaid. First, the 
chief of William Henry will give as a great chief should for 
such a service. The medal* of Magua will no longer be of tin, 
but of beaten gold ; his horn will run over with powder ; dol- 
lars will be as plenty in his ])ouch as pebbles on the shore of 
Horican ; and the deer will lick his hand, for they will know it 
to be vain to fly from the rifle he will carry ! As for myself, I 
know not how to exceed the gratitude of the Scotchman, but 
I— yes, I will ” 

“ What will the young chief who comes from towards the 
sun, give ?” demanded the Huron, observing that Heyward he- 
sitated in his desire to end the enumeration of benefits with 
that which might form the climax of an Indian’s wishes. 

“ He will make the fire-water from the Islands in the salt lake 
flow before the wigwam of Magua, until the heart of the Indian 
shall be lighter than the feathers of the humming bird, and his 
breath sweeter than the wild honey-suckle.” 

Le Renard had listened gravely as Heyward slowly pro- 
ceeded in this subtle speech. When the young man mentioned 


* It has long been a practice with the whites to conciliate the important men of 
the Indians, by presenting medals, which are worn in the place of their own rndo 
ornaments. Those given by the English generally bear the Impression of the reign- 
ing king, and those given by the Americans that of the president. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


121 


the artifice lie supposed the Indian to have practised on Iiis own 
nation, the countenance of tlie listener was veiled in an expres- 
sion of cautious gravity. x\t the allusion to the injury which 
Duncan affected to believe had driven the Huron from his 
native tribe, a gleam of such ungovernable ferocity flashed from 
the other’s eyes, as induced the adventurous speaker to believe 
he had struck the proper chord. And by the time he reached 
the part where he so artfully blended the thirst of vengeance 
with the desire of gain, he had, at least, obtained a command of 
the deepest attention of the savage. The question put by Le 
Renard had been calm, and with all the dignity of an Indian ; 
but it was quite apparent, by the thoughtful expression of the 
listener’s countenance, that the answer was most cunningly de- 
vised. The Huron mused a few moments, and then laying his 
hand on the rude bandages of his wounded shoulder, he said, 
with some energy — 

“ Do friends make such marks ?” 

“ Would ‘ La longue Carabine’ cut one so light on an 
enemy ?” 

“ Do the Delawares crawl upon those they love like snakes, 
twisting themselves to strike ?” 

“ Would ‘ Le gros Serpent’ have been heard by the ears of 
one he wished to be deaf ?” 

“ Does the white chief burn his powder in the faces of his 
brothers ?” 

“ Does he ever miss his aim, when seriously bent to kill ?” re- 
turned Duncan, smiling with well acted sincerity. 

Another long and deliberate pause succeeded these senten- 
tious questions and ready replies. Duncan saw that the In- 
dian hesitated. In order to complete his victory, he was in the 
act of i-ecommencing the enumeration of the rewards, when 
Magua made an expressive gesture, and said — 

“ Enough ; Le Renard is a wise chief, and what he does will 
be seen. Go, and keep the mouth shut. AVhen Magua speaks, 
it will be the time to answer.” 

Heyward, perceiving that the eyes of his companion were 
6 


122 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


warily fastened on the rest of the band, fell back immediately, 
in order to avoid the appearance of any suspicious confederacy 
with their leader. Magna approached the horses, and affected 
to be well pleased with the diligence and ingenuity of his com- 
rades. He then signed to Heyward to assist the sisters into 
the saddles, for he seldom deigned to use the English tongue, 
unless urged by some motive of more than usual moment. 

There was no longer any plausible pretext for delay ; and 
Duncan was obliged, however reluctantly, to comply. As he 
performed this office, he whispered his reviving hopes in the ears 
of the trembling females, who, through dread of encountering 
the savage countenances of their captors, seldom raised their 
eyes from the ground. The mare of David had been taken with 
the followers of the large chief ; in consequence, its owner, as 
well as Duncan, Avere compelled to journey on foot. The latter 
did not, however, so much regret this circumstance, as it might 
enable him to retard the speed of the party; for he still turned 
his longing looks in the directiem of Fort Edward, in the vain 
expectation of catching some sound from that quarter of the 
forest, which might denote the approach of succor. 

When all were prepared, Magua made the signal to proceed, 
advancing in front to lead the party in person. Next followed 
David, who was gradually coming to a true sense of his condi- 
tion, as the effects of the wound became less and less apparent. 
The sisters rode in his rear, with Heyward at their side, while 
the Indians flanked the party, and brought up the close of the 
march, Avith a caution that seemed never to tire. 

In this manner they proceeded in uninterrupted silence, 
except when Heyvvard addressed some solitary word of comfort 
to the females, dr David gav^e vent to the meanings of his spirit, 
in piteous exclamations, which he intended should express the 
humility of resignation. Their direction lay towards the south, 
and in a course nearly opposite to the road to William Henry. 
Notwithstanding this apparent adherence in Magua to the 
original determination of his conquerors, HeyAvard could not 
believe his tempting bait was so soon forgotten ; and he knew the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


123 


windings of an Indian path too well, to suppose that its appa- 
rent course led directly to its object, when arti6ce was at all 
necessary. Mile after mile was, however, passed through the 
boundless woods, in this painful manner, without any prospect 
of a termination to their journey. Heyward watched the sun, 
as he darted his meridian rays through the branches of the 
trees, and pined for the moment when the policy of Magua 
should change their route to one more favorable to his hopes. 
Sometimes he fancied the wary savage, despairing of passing the 
army of Montcalm in safety, was holding his way towards a well 
known border settlement, where a distinguished officer of the 
crown, and a favored friend of the Six Nations, held his large 
possessions, as well as his usual residence. To be delivered 
into the hands of Sir William Johnson, was far preferable to 
being led into the wilds of Canada ; but in order to effect even 
the former, it would be necessary to traverse the forest for many 
weary leagues, each step of which was carrying him further 
from the scene of the war, and, consequently, from the post, not 
only of honor, but of duty. 

Cora alone remembered the parting injunctions of the scout, 
and whenever an opportunity offered, she stretched forth her 
arm to bend aside the twigs that met her hands. But the vigi- 
lance of the Indians rendered this act of precaution both diffi- 
cult and dangerous. She was often defeated in her purpose, by 
encountering their watchful eyes, when it became necessary to 
feign an alarm she did not feel, and occupy the limb by some 
gesture of feminine apprehension. Once, and once only, was 
she completely successful ; when she broke down the bough of 
a large sumach, and, by a sudden thought, let her glove fall at 
the same instant. This sign, intended for those that might 
follow, was observed by one of her conductors, who restored 
the glove, broke the remaining branches of the bush in such a 
manner that it appeared to proceed from the struggling of some 
beast in its branches, and then laid his hand on his tomahawk, 
with a look so significant, that it put an effectual end to these 
stolen memorials of their passage. 


124 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


As there were horses, to leave the prints of their footsteps, in 
both bands of the Indians, this interruption cut off any pro- 
bable hopes of assistance being conveyed through the means of 
their trail. 

Heyward would have ventured a remonstrance, had there 
been anything encouraging in the gloomy reserve of Magua. 
But the savage, during all this time, seldom turned to look at 
his followers, and never spoke. With the sun for his only 
guide, or aided by such blind marks as are only known to the 
sagacity of a native, he held his way along the barrens of pine, 
through occasional little fertile vales, across brooks and rivulets, 
and over undulating hills, with the accuracy of instinct, and 
nearly with the directness of a bird. He never seemed to hesi- 
tate. Whether the path was hardly distinguishable, whether it 
disappeared, or whether it lay beaten and plain before him, 
made no sensible difference in his speed or certainty. It 
seemed as if fatigue could not affect him. Whenever the eyes 
of the wearied ti-avellers rose from the decayed leaves over which 
they trode, his dark form was to be seen glancing among the 
stems of the trees in front, his head immovably fastened in a 
forward position, with the light plume on his crest fluttering 
in a current of air, made solely by the swiftness of his own 
motion. 

But all this diligence and speed were not without an object. 
After crossing a low vale, through which a gushing brook 
meandered, he suddenly ascended a hill, so steep and difficult 
of ascent, that the sisters were compelled to alight, in order to 
follow. When the summit was gained, they found themselves 
on a level spot, but thinly covered with trees, under one 
of which Magua had thrown his dark form, as if willing and 
ready to seek that rest which was so much needed by the 
whole party. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


125 


CHAPTER XL 

Cursed be my tribe 

If I forgive him. Shylock. 

The Indian had selected, for this desirable purpose, one of those 
steep, pyramidal hills, which bear a strong resemblance to arti- 
ficial mounds, and which so frequently occur in the valleys of 
America. The one in question was high and precipitous ; its 
top flattened, as usual ; but with one of its sides more than 
ordinarily irregular. It possessed no other apparent advantage, 
for a resting place, than in its elevation and form, which might 
render defence easy, and surprise nearly impossible. As Hey- 
ward, however, no longer expected that rescue which time and 
distance now rendered so improbable, he regarded these little 
peculiarities with an eye devoid of interest, devoting himself 
entirely to the comfort and condolence of his feebler companions. 
The Narragansets were suffered to browse on the branches of the 
trees and shrubs that were thinly scattered over the summit of 
the hill, while the remains of their provisions were spread under 
the shade of a beech, that stretched its horizontal limbs like a 
canopy above them. 

Notwithstanding the swiftness of their flight, one of the Indians 
had found an opportunity to strike a straggling fawn with an 
arrow, and had borne the more preferable fragments of the 
victim, patiently on his shoulders, to the stopping-place. With- 
out any aid from the science of cookery, he was immediately 
employed, in common with his fellows, in gorging himself with 
this digestible sustenance. Magua alone sat apart, without par- 
ticipating in the revolting meal, and apparently buried in the 
deepest thought. 

This abstinence, so remarkable in an Indian, when he pos- 


126 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

sessed the means of satisfying hunger, at length attracted the 
notice of Heyward. The young man willingly believed that the 
Huron deliberated on the most eligible manner of eluding the 
vigilance of his associates. With a view to assist his plans, by 
any suggestion of his own, and to strengthen the temptation, he 
left the beech, and straggled as if without an object, to the spot 
where Le Renard was seated. 

“ Has not Magua kept the sun in his face long enough to 
escape all danger from the Canadians ?” he asked, as though no 
longer doubtful of the good intelligence established between 
them ; “ and will not the chief of William Henry be better 
pleased to see his daughters before another night may have 
hardened his heart to their loss, to make him less liberal in his 
reward ?” 

“ Do the pale-faces love their children less in the morning than 
at night ?” asked the Indian, coldl3\ 

“ By no means,” returned Heyward, anxious to recall his 
error, if he had made one ; “ the white man may, and does often, 
forget the burial-place of his fathers ; he sometimes ceases to 
remember those he should love, and has promised to cherish ; 
but the affection of a parent for his child is never permitted to 
die.” 

“ And is the heart of the white-headed chief soft, and will he 
think of the babes that his squaws have given him? He is hard 
to his warriors, and his eyes are made of stone !” 

“ He is severe to the idle and wicked, but to the sober and 
deserving he is a leader, both just and humane. I have known 
many fond and tender parents, but never have I seen a man 
whose heart was softer towards his child. You have seen the 
grey-head in front of his warriors, Magua ; but I have seen his 
eyes swimming in water, when he spoke of those children who 
are now in your power !” 

Heyward paused, for he knew not how to construe the 
remarkable expression that gleamed across the swarthy features 
of the attentive Indian. At first it seemed as if the remem- 
brance of the promised reward grew vivid in his mind, while 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


127 


he listened to the sources of parental feeling which were to 
assure its possession ; but as Duncan proceeded, the expression 
of joy became so fiercely malignant, that it was impossible not 
to apprehend it proceeded from some passion more sinister than 
avarice. 

“ Go,” said the Huron, suppressing the alarming exhibition 
in an instant, in a death-like calmness of countenance ; “ go to 
the dark-haired daughter, and say, Magua waits to speak. The 
father will remember what the child promises.” 

Duncan, who interpreted this speech to express a wish for 
some additional pledge that the promised gifts should not be 
withheld, slowly and reluctantly repaired to the place where 
the sisters were now resting from their fatigue, to communicate 
its purport to Cora. 

“You understand the nature of an Indian’s wishes,” he 
concluded, as he led her towards the place where she was 
expected, “ and must be prodigal of your offers of powder and 
blankets. Ardent spirits are, however, the most prized by such 
as he ; nor would it be amiss to add some boon from your own 
hand, with that grace you so well know how' to practise. 
Remember, Cora, that on your presence of mind and ingenuity 
even your life, as well as that of Alice, may in some measure 
depend.” 

“ Heyward, and yours !” 

“Mine is of little moment; it is already sold to my king, 
and is a prize to be seized by any enemy who may possess the 
power. I have no father to expect me, and but few friends to 
lament a fate which I have courted with the unsatiable 
longings of youth after distinction. But hush ; we approach 
the Indian. Magua, the lady with whom you wish to speak, 
is here.” 

The Indian rose slowly from his seat, and stood for near a 
minute silent and motionless. He then signed with his hand 
for Heyward to retire, saying coldly, — 

“ When the Huron talks to the women, his tribe shut their 
ears.” 


128 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Duncan, still lingering, as if refusing to comply, Cora said, 
with a calm smile, — 

“ You hear, Heyward, and delicacy at least should urge you 
to retire. Go to Alice, and comfort her with our reviving 
prospects.” 

She waited until he had departed, and then turning to the 
native, with the dignity of her sex in her voice and manner, 
she added, “ What would Le Renard say to the daughter of 
Munro ?” 

“ Listen,” said the Indian, laying his hand firmly upon her 
arm, as if willing to draw her utmost attention to his words ; a 
movement that Cora as firmly hut quietly repulsed, by extricat- 
ing the limb from his grasp — “ Magua was born a chief and a 
warrior among the red Hurons of the lakes ; he saw the suns 
of twenty summers make the snows of twenty winters run off 
in the streams, before he saw a pale-face ; and he was happy I 
Then his Canada fathers came into the woods, and taught him 
to drink the fire-water, and he became a rascal. The Hurons 
drove him from the graves of his fathers, as they would chase 
the hunted buffalo. He ran down the shores of the lakes, and 
followed their outlet to the ‘ city of cannon.’ There he hunted 
and fished, till the people chased him again through the woods 
into the arras of his enemies. The chief, who was born a 
Huron, was at last a warrior among the Mohawks 1” 

“ Something like this I had heard before,” said Cora, observ- 
ing that he paused to suppress those passions which began to 
burn with too bright a flame, as he recalled the recollection of 
his supposed injuries. 

“ Was it the fault of Le Renard that his head was not made 
of rock ? Who gave him the fire-water ? who made him a 
villain? ’Twas the pale-faces, the people of your own 
color.” 

“ And am I answerable that thoughtless and unprincipled 
men exist, whose shades of countenance may resemble mine ?” 
Cora calmly demanded of the excited savage. 

“ Ho ; Magua is a man, and not a fool ; such as you never 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


129 


02 )en their lips to the burning stream : the Great Spirit has 
given you wisdom !” 

“ What then have I to do, or say, in the matter of your 
misfortunes, not to say of your errors ?” 

“ Listen,” repeated the Indian, resuming his earnest attitude ; 
“ when his English and French fathers dug up the hatchet, Lo 
Renard struck the war-post of the Mohawks, and went out 
against his own nation. The pale-faces have driven the red- 
skins from their hunting grounds, and now, when they fight, a 
white man leads the way. The old chief at Horican, your 
father, was the great captain of our war-party. He said to the 
Mohawks do this, and do that, and he was minded. He made 
a law, that if an Indian swallowed the fire-water, and came into 
the cloth wigwams of his warriors, it should not be forgotten. 
Magua foolishly opened his mouth, and the hot liquor led him 
into the cabin of Munro. What did the grey-head ? let his 
daughter say.” 

“ He forgot not his words, and did justice, by punishing the 
offender,” said the undaunted daughter. 

“Justice!” rej^eated the Indian, casting an oblique glance of 
the most ferocious expression at her unyielding countenance ; “ is 
it justice to make e\il, and then punish for it ? Magua was not 
himself; it was the fire-water that spoke and acted for him 1 
but Munro did not believe it. The Huron chief was tied up 
before all the pale-faced warriors, and whipped like a dog.” 

Cora remained silent, for she knew not how to palliate this 
imprudent severity on the part of her father, in a manner to 
suit the comprehension of an Indian. 

“ See 1” continued Magua, tearing aside the slight calico that 
very imperfectly concealed his painted breast ; “ here are scars 
given by knives and bullets — of these a warrior may boast 
before his nation ; but the grey-head has left marks on the 
back of the Huron chief, that he must hide, like a squaw, under 
this painted cloth of the whites.” 

“ I had thought,” resumed Cora, “ that an Indian warrior 
6 ^ 


130 


rilE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


was patient, and that his spirit felt not, and knew not, the pain 
his body suffered ?” 

“ When the Chippewas tied Magna to the stake, and cut this 
gash,” said the other, laying his finger on a deep scar, “ the 
Huron laughed in their faces, and told them. Women struck so 
light ! His spirit was then in the clouds ! But when he felt 
the blows of Munro, his spirit lay under the birch. The spirit 
of a Huron is never drunk ; it remembers for ever !” 

“But it may be appeased. If my father has done you this 
injustice, show him how an Indian can forgive an injury, and 
take back his daughters. You have heard from Major Hey- 
ward — ” 

Magua shook his head, forbidding the repetition of offers he so 
much despised. 

“What would you have?” continued Cora, after a most 
painful pause, while the conviction forced itself on her mind, 
that the too sanguine and generous Duncan had been cruelly 
deceived by the cunning of the savage. 

“ What a Huron loves — good for good ; bad for bad !” 

“ You would then revenge the injury inflicted by Munro on 
his helpless daughters. AVould it not be more like a man to go 
before his face, and take the satisfaction of a warrior ?” 

“ The arms of the pale-faces are long, and their knives sharp !” 
returned the savage, with a malignant laugh : “ why should Le 
Renard go among the muskets of his warriors, when he holds 
the spirit of the grey -head in his hand ?” 

“Name your intention, Magua,” said Cora, struggling with 
herself to speak with steady calmness. “ Is it to lead us 
prisoners to the woods, or . do you contemplate even some 
greater evil ? Is there no reward, no means of palliating the 
injury, and of softening your heart? At least, release my 
gentle sister, and pour out all your malice on me. Purchase 
wealth by her safety and satisfy your revenge with a single 
victim. The loss of both his daughters might bring the aged 
man to his grave, and where would then be the satisfaction of 
Le Renard?” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


131 


“ Listen,” said the Indian again. “ The light eyes can go 
back to the Ilorican, and tell the old chief what has been done, 
if the dark-haired woman will swear by the Great Spirit of her 
fathers to tell no lie.” 

“ What must I promise ?” demanded Cora, still maintaining 
a secret ascendency over the fierce native, by the collected and 
feminine dignity of her presence. 

“ When Magua left his people, his wife was given to another 
chief ; he has now made friends with the Hurons, and will go 
back to the graves of his tribe, on the shores of the great lake. 
Let the daughter of the English chief follow, and live in his 
wigwam for ever.” 

However revolting a proposal of such a character might prove 
to Cora, she retained, notwithstanding her powerful disgust, 
sufficient self-command to reply, without betraying the weak- 
ness. 

“ And what pleasure would Magua find in sharing his cabin 
with a wife he did not love ; one who would be of a nation and 
color different from his own ? It would be better to take the 
gold of Munro, and buy the heart of some Huron maid with his 
gifts.” 

The Indian made no reply for near a minute, but bent his 
fierce looks on the countenance of Cora, in such wavering 
glances, that her eyes sank with shame, under an impression, 
that, for the first time, they had encountered an expression that 
no chaste female might endure. While she was shrinking 
within herself, in dread of having her ears wounded by some 
proposal still more shocking than the last, the voice of Magua 
answered, in its tones of deepest malignancy — 

“ When the blow's scorched the back of the Huron, he w^ould 
know where to find a woman to feel the smart. The daughter 
of Munro would draw his water, hoe his corn, and cook his 
venison. The body of the grey-head would sleep among his 
cannon, but his heart would lie within reach of the knife of Le 
Subtil.” 

^ Monster ! well dost thou deserve thy treacherous name !” 


132 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


cried Cora, in an ungovernable burst of filial indignation. 
“ None but a fiend could meditate such a vengeance ! But 
thou over-ratest thy power ! You shall find it is, in truth, the 
heart of Munro you hold, and that it will defy your utmost 
malice !” 

The Indian answered this bold defiance by a ghastly smile, 
that showed an unaltered purpose, while he motioned her away, 
as if to close the conference for ever. Cora, already regretting 
her precipitation, was obliged to comply ; for Magua instantly 
left the spot, and approached his gluttonous comrades. Hey- 
ward flew to the side of the agitated female, and demanded the 
result of a dialogue, that he had watched at a distance with so 
much interest. But unwilling to alarm the fears of Alice, she 
evaded a direct reply, betraying only by her countenance her 
utter want of success, and keeping h'i-r anxious looks fastened on 
the slightest movements of their caj tors. To the reiterated and 
earnest questions of her sister, concerning their probable 
destination, she made no other answer than by pointing towards 
the dark group, with an agitation she could not control, and 
murmuring, as she folded Alice to her bosom — 

“ There, there ; read our fortunes in their faces ; we shall see ; 
we shall see !” 

The action, and the choked utterance of Cora, spoke more 
impressively than any words, and quickly drew the attention of 
her companions on that spot, where her own was riveted with an 
intenseness that nothing but the importance of the stake could 
create. 

When Magua reached the cluster of lolling savages, who, 
gorged with their disgusting meal, lay stretched on the earth in 
brutal indulgence, he commenced speaking with the dignity of 
an Indian chief. The first syllables he uttered had the effect to 
cause his listeners to raise themselves in attitudes of respectful 
attention. As the Huron used his native language, the 
prisoners, notwithstanding the caution of the natives had kept 
them within the swing of their tomahawks, could only conjecture 
the substance of his harangue, from the nature of those signifi- 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 133 

cant gestures with which an Indian always illustrates his 
eloquence. 

At first, the language, as well as the action of Magua, 
appeared calm and deliberative. When he had succeeded in 
sufficiently awakening the attention of his comrades, Heyward 
fimcied, by his pointing so frequently toward the direction of the 
great lakes, that he spoke of the land of their fathers, and of 
their distant tribe. Frequent indications of applause escaped 
the listeners, who, as they uttered the expressive “ Hugh !” 
looked at each other in commendation of the speaker. Le 
Renard was too skilful to neglect his advantage. He now spoke 
of the long and painful route by which they had left those 
spacious grounds and happy villages, to come and battle against 
the enemies of their Canadian fathers. He enumerated the 
warriors of the party; their several merits; their frequent 
services to the nation ; their wounds, and the number of the 
scalps they had taken. Whenever he alluded to any present 
(and the subtle Indian neglected none), the dark countenance of 
the flattered individual gleamed with exultation, nor did he even 
hesitate to assert the truth of the words, by gestures of applause 
and confirmation. Then the voice of the speaker fell, and lost 
the loud, animated tones of triumph with which he had 
enumerated their deeds of success and victory. He described 
the cataract of Glenn’s ; the impregnable position of its rocky 
island, with its caverns, and its numerous rapids and whirlpools ; 
he named the name of “ La longue Carabine,” and paused until 
the forest beneath them had sent up the last echo of a loud and 
long yell, with which the hated appellation was received. He 
pointed toward the youthful military captive, and described the 
death of a favorite warrior, who had been precipitated into the 
deep ravine by his hand. He not only mentioned the fate of 
him who, hanging between heaven and earth, had presented 
such a spectacle of horror to the whole band, but he acted anew 
the terrors of his situation, his resolution and his death, on the 
branches of a sapling ; and, finally, he rapidly recounted the 
manner in which each of their friends had fallen, never failing to 


134 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


touch upon their courage, and their most acknowledged virtues. 
When this recital of events was ended, his voice once more 
clianged, and became plaintive, and even musical, in its low 
guttural sounds. He now spoke of the wives and children of 
the slain ; their destitution ; their misery, both physical and 
moral ; their distance ; and, at last, of their unavenged wrongs. 
Then suddenly lifting his voice to a pitch of terrific energy, ha 
concluded, by demanding — 

“ Are the Hurons dogs to bear this ? Who shall say to the 
wife of Menowgua that the fishes have his scalp, and that his 
nation have not taken revenge ! Who will dare meet the 
mother of Wassawattimie, that scornful woman, with his hands 
clean ! What shall be said to the old men when they ask us 
for scalps, and we have not a hair from a white head to give 
them ! The women will point their fingers at us. There is a 
dark spot on the names of the Hurons, and it must be hid in 
blood !— ” 

His voice was no longer audible in the burst of rage which 
now broke into the air, as if the wood, instead of containing so 
small a band, was filled with the nation. During the foregoing 
address the progress of the speaker was too plainly read by 
those most interested in his success, through the medium of the 
countenances of the men he addressed. They had answered 
his melancholy and mourning by sympathy and sorrow ; his 
assertions, by gestures of confirmation ; and his boastings, with 
the exultation of savages. When he spoke of courage, their 
looks were firm and responsive; when he alluded to their 
injuries, their eyes kindled with fury ; when he mentioned the 
taunts of the women, they dropped their heads in shame ; but 
when he pointed out their means of vengeance, he struck a 
chord which never failed to thrill in the breast of an Indian. 
With the first intimation that it was within their reach, the 
whole band sprang upon their feet as one man ; giving utterance 
to their rage in the most frantic cries, they rushed upon their 
prisoners in a body with drawn knives and uplifted tomahawks, 
Heyward threw himself between the sisters and the foremost, 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


135 


whom he grappled with a desperate strength that for a moment 
checked his violence. This unexpected resistance gave Magua 
time to interpose, and with rapid enunciation and animated 
gesture, he drew the attention of the band again to himself. In 
that language he knew so well how to assume, he diverted his 
comrades from their instant purpose, and invited them to 
prolong the misery of their victims. His proposal was received 
with acclamations, and executed with the swiftness of thought. 

Two powerful warriors cast themselves on Heyward, while 
another was occupied in securing the less active singing-master. 
Neither of the captives, however, submitted without a desperate 
though fruitless struggle. Even David hurled his assailant to 
the earth ; nor was Heyward secured until the victory over his 
companion enabled the Indians to direct their united force to 
that object. He was then bound and fastened to the body of 
the sapling, on whose branches Magua had acted the pantomime 
of the falling Huron. When the young soldier regained his 
recollection, he had the painful certainty before his eyes that 
a common fate was intended for the whole party. On his right 
was Cora, in a durance similar to his own, pale and agitated, 
but with an eye, whose steady look still read the proceedings 
of their enemies. On his left, the withes which bound her to 
a pine, performed that office for Alice which her trembling 
limbs refused, and alone kept her fragile form from sinking. 
Her hands were clasped before her in prayer, but instead of 
looking upwards towards that power which alone could rescue 
them, her unconscious looks wandered to the countenance of 
Duncan with infantile dependency. David had contended, and 
the novelty of the circumstance held him silent, in deliberation 
on the propriety of the unusual occurrence. 

The vengeance of the Hurons had now taken a new direction, 
and they prepared to execute it with that barbarous ingenuity 
with which they were familiarized by the practice of centuries. 
Some sought knots, to raise the blazing pile ; one was riving the 
splinters of pine, in order to pierce the flesh of their captives 


136 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


with the burning fragments ; and others bent the tops of two 
saplings to the earth, in order to suspend Heyward by the arms 
between the recoiling branches. But the vengeance of Magua 
sought a deeper and a more malignant enjoyment. 

While the less refined monsters "of the band prepared, before 
the eyes of those who were to suffer, these well known and vul- 
gar means of torture, he approached Cora, and pointed out, with 
the most malign expression of countenance, the speedy fate that 
awaited her — 

“ Ha !” he added, “ what says the daughter of Munro ? Her 
head is too good to find a pillow in the wigwam of Le Renard ; 
will she like it better when it rolls about this hill a plaything 
for the wolves? Her bosom cannot nurse the children of a 
Huron ; she will see it spit upon by Indians !” 

“ What means the monster !” demanded the astonished 
Heyward. 

“Nothing!” was the firm reply. “He is a savage, a bar- 
barous and ignorant savage, and knows not what he does. Let 
us find leisure, with our dying breath, to ask for him penitence 
and pardon.” 

“ Pardon !” echoed the fierce Huron, mistaking, in his anger, 
the meaning of her words ; “ the memory of an Indian is longer 
than the arm of the pale faces ; his mercy shorter than their 
justice ! Say ; shall I send the yellow hair to her father, and 
will you follow Magua to the great lakes, to carry his water, and 
feed him with corn ?” 

Cora beckoned him away, with an emotion of disgust she 
could not control. 

“ Leave me,” she said, with a solemnity that for a moment 
checked the barbarity of the Indian ; “ you mingle bitterness in 
my prayei-s ; you stand between me and my God !” 

The slight impression produced on the savage was, however, 
soon forgotten, and he continued pointing, with taunting irony, 
towards Alice. 

“ Look 1 the child weeps ! She is young to die I Send her 


THE LAST OF T 11 


MOHICANS. 


137 


to Muiiro, to comb bis grey hairs, and keep life in the heart of 
the old man.” 

Cora could not resist the desire to look upon her youthful 
sister, in whose eyes she met an imploring glance, that betrayed 
the longings of nature. 

“ What says he, dearest Cora ?” asked the trembling voice of 
Alice. “ Did he speak of sending me to our father ?” 

For many moments the elder sister looked upon the younger^ 
with a countenance that wavered with powerful and contending 
emotions. At length she spoke, though her tones had lost their 
rich and calm fulness, in an expression of tenderness that 
seemed maternal. 

“ Alice,” slie said, “ the Huron offers us both life — nay, more 
than both ; he offers to restore Duncan — our invaluable Duncan, 
as well as you, to our friends — to our father — to our heart- 
stricken, childless father, if I will bow down this rebellious, stub- 
born pride of mine, and consent” — 

Her voice became choked, and clasping her hands, she looked 
upward, as if seeking, in her agony, intelligence from a wisdom 
that was infinite. 

“ Say on,” cried Alice ; “ to what, dearest Cora ? Oh ! that 
the proffer were made to me ! to save you, to cheer our aged 
father ! to restore Duncan, how cheerfully could I die !” 

“ Die !” repeated Cora, with a calmer and a firmer voice, 
“ that were easy ! Perhaps the alternative may not be less so. 
He would have me,” she continued, her accents sinking under 
a deep consciousness of the degradation of the proposal, “ follow 
him to the wilderness ; go to the habitations of the Hurons ; to 
remain there : in short, to become his wife ! Speak, then, Alice ; 
child of my affections ! sister of my love ! And you, too. 
Major Heyward, aid my weak reason with your counsel. Is 
life to be purchased by such a sacrifice ? Will you, Alice, 
receive it at my hands at such a price ? And yow, Duncan ; 
guide me ; control me between you ; for I am wholly 
yours.” 


138 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ Would I !” echoed the indignant and astonished youth. 
“Cora ! Cora ! you jest with our misery ! Name not the horrid 
alternative ag^ain ; the thouo-ht itself is worse than a thousand 

O' O 

deaths.” 

“ That such would be your answer, I well knew !” exclaimed 
Cora, her cheeks flushing, and her dark eyes once more spark- 
ling with the lingering emotions of a woman. “ What says my 
Alice ? for her will I submit without another murmur.” 

Although both Heyward and Cora listened with painful 
suspense and the deepest attention, no sounds were heard in 
reply. It appeared as if the delicate and sensitive form of Alice 
would shrink into itself, as she listened to this proposal. Her 
arms had fallen lengthwise before her, the fingers moving in 
slight convulsions ; her head dropped upon her bosom, and her 
whole person seemed suspended against the tree, looking like 
some beautiful emblem of the wounded delicacy of her sex, 
devoid of animation, and yet keenly conscious. In a few mo- 
ments, however, her head began to move slowly, in a sign of 
deep, unconquerable disapprobation. 

“ No, no, no ; better that we die jxs we have lived, together!” 

“ Then die I” shouted Magua, hurling his tomahawk with 
violence at the unresisting speaker, and gnashing his teeth with 
a rage that could no longer be bridled, at this sudden exhibition 
of firmness in the one he believed the weakest of the party. 
The axe cleaved the air in front of Heyward, and cutting some 
of the flowing ringlets of Alice, quivered in the tree above her 
head. The sight maddened Duncan to desperation. Collecting 
all his energies in one effort, he snapped the twigs which bound 
him, and rushed upon another savage, who was preparing, with 
loud yells, and a more deliberate aim, to repeat the blow. 
They encountered, grappled, and fell to the earth together. 
The naked body of his antagonist afforded Heyward no means 
of holding his adversary, who glided from his grasp, and rose 
again with one knee on his chest, pressing him down with the 
weight of a giant. Duncan already saw the knife gleaming in 


1HE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


139 


the air, when a whistling sound swept past him, and was rather 
accompanied, than followed, by the sharp crack of a rifle. He 
felt his breast relieved from the load it had endured ; he saw 
the savage expression of his adversary’s countenance change to 
a look of vacant wildness, when the Indian fell dead on the 
faded leaves by his side. 


140 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER XII. 


Clo.—l am gone, sir, 

And anon, sir. 

I’ll be with you again. 

Twelftu Night. 


TtiE Hurons stood agbast at this sudden visitation of death 
on one of their band. But, as they regarded the fatal accuracy 
of an aim which had dared to immolate an enemy at so much 
hazard to a friend, the name of “ La longue Carabine” burst 
simultaneously from every lip, and was succeeded by a wild and 
a sort of plaintive howl. The cry was answered by a loud 
shout from a little thicket, where the incautious party had piled 
their arms ; and, at the next moment. Hawk-eye, too eager to 
load the rifle he had regained, was seen advancing upon them, 
brandishing the clubbed weapon, and cutting the air with wide 
and powerful sweeps. Bold and rapid as was the progress of 
the scout, it was exceeded by that of a light and vigorous form 
which, bounding past him, leaped, with incredible activity and 
daring, into the very centre of the Hurons, where it stood, 
whirling a tomahawk, and flourishing a glittering knife, with 
fearful menaces, in front of Cora. Quicker than the thoughts 
could follow these unexpected and audacious movements, an 
image, armed in the emblematic panoply of death, glided 
before their eyes, and assumed a threatening attitude at the 
other’s side. The savage tormentors recoiled before these war- 
like intruders, and uttered as they appeared in such quick 
succession, the often repeated and peculiar exclamation of sur- 
prise, followed by the w^ell known and dreaded appellations 
of-^ 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


141 


^ Le Cerf agile ! Le gros Serpent !” 

But the wary and vigilant leader of the Hurons was not so 
easily disconcerted. Casting his keen eyes around the little 
plain, he comprehended the nature of the assault at a glance, 
and encouraging his followers by his voice as well as by his 
example, he unsheathed his long and dangerous knife, and 
rushed with a loud whoop upon the expecting Chingachgook. 
It was the signal for a general combat. Neither party had fire- 
arms, and the contest was to be decided in the deadliest 
manner ; hand to hand, with weapons of offence, and none of 
defence. 

Uncas answered the whoop, and leaping on an enemy, with 
a single, well-directed blow of his tomahawk, cleft him to the 
brain. Heyward tore the weapon of Magua from the sapling, 
and rushed eagerly towards the fray. As the combatants were 
now equal in number, each singled an opponent from the 
adverse band. The rush and blows passed with the fury of a 
whirlwind, and the swiftness of lightning. Hawk-eye soon got 
another enemy within reach of his arm, and with one sweep of 
his formidable weapon he beat down the slight and inartificial 
defences of his antagonist, crushing him to the earth with the 
blow. Heyward ventured to hurl the tomahawk he had seized, 
too ardent to await the moment of closing. It struck the Indian 
he had selected on the forehead, and checked for an instant his 
onward rush. Encouraged by this slight advantage, the impe- 
tuous young man continued ,his onset, and sprang upon his 
enemy with naked hands. A single instant was sufficient to 
assure him of the rashness of the measure, for he immediately 
found himself fully engaged, with all his activity and courage, 
in endeavoring to ward the desperate thrusts made with the 
Knife of the Huron. Unable longer to foil an enemy so alert 
and vigilant, he threw his arms about him, and succeeded in 
pinning the limbs of the other to his side, with an iron grasp, 
but one that was far too exhausting to himself to continue long, 
In this extremity he heard a voice near him, shouting — 

“ Extarminate the varlets ! no quarter to an accursed Mingo !” 


142 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


At the next moment, the breech of Hawk-eye’s rifle fell on 
the naked head of his adversary, whose muscles appeared to 
wither under the shock, as he sank from the arms of Duncan, 
flexible and motionless. 

When Uncas had brained his first antagonist, he turned, like 
a hungry lion, to seek another. The fifth and only Huron dis- 
engaged at the first onset had paused a moment, and then seeing 
that all around him were employed in the deadly strife, he had 
sought, with hellish vengeance, to complete the balfled w^ork of 
revenge. Raising a shout of triumph, he sprang towards the 
defenceless Cora, sending his keen axe, as the dreadful precursor 
of his approach. The tomahawk grazed her sliouldei, and 
cutting the withes which bound her to the tree, left the maiden 
at liberty to fly. She eluded the grasp of the savage, and reck- 
less of her own safety, threw herself on the bosom of Alice, 
striving, with convulsed and ill-directed fingere, to tear asunder 
the twigs which confined the person of her sister. Any other 
than a monster would have relented at such an act of generous 
devotion to the best and purest aftection ; but the breast of the 
Huron was a stranger to sympathy. Seizing Cora by the rich 
tresses which fell in confusion about her form, he tore her from 
her frantic hold, and bowed her down with brutal violence to 
her knees. The savage drew the flowing curls through his 
hand, and raising them on high with an outstretched arm, he 
passed the knife around the exquisitely moulded head of his 
victim, with a taunting and exulting laugh. But he purchased 
this moment of fierce gratification with the loss of the fatal 
opportunity. It was just then the sight caught the eye of 
Uncas. Bounding from his footsteps he appeared for an instant 
darting through the air, and descending in a ball he fell on the 
chest of his enemy, driving him many yards from the spot, 
headlong and prostrate. The violence of the exertion cast the 
young Mohican at his side. They arose together, fought, and 
bled, each in his turn. But the conflict was soon decided ; the 
tomahawk of Heyward and the rifle of Hawk-eye descended on 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 143 

the skull of the Huron, at the same moment that the knife of 
Uiicas reached his heart. 

The battle was now entirely terminated, with the exception 
of the protracted struggle between “ Le Renard Subtil” and 
“ Le gros Serpent.” Well did these barbarous warriors prove 
that they deserved those significant names which had been 
bestowed for deeds in former wars. When they engaged, some 
little time was lost in eluding the quick and vigorous thrusts 
which had been aimed at their lives. Suddenly darting on 
each other, they closed, and came to the earth, twisted together 
like twining serpents, in pliant and subtle folds. At the moment 
when the victors found themselves unoccupied, the spot where 
these experienced and desperate combatants lay, could only be 
distinguished by a cloud of dust and leaves which moved from 
the centre of the little plain towards its boundary, as if raised 
by the passage of a whirlwind. Urged by the different motives 
of filial afifection, friendship, and gratitude, Heyward and his 
companions rushed with one accord to the place, encircling the 
little canopy of dust which hung above the warriors. In vain 
did Uncas dart around the cloud, with a wish to strike his knife 
into the heart of his father’s foe ; the threatening rifle of Hawk- 
eye was raised and suspended in vain, while Duncan endeavored 
to seize the limbs of the Huron with hands that appeared to 
have lost their power. Covered, as they were, with dust and 
blood, the swift evolutions of the combatants seemed to incor- 
porate their bodies into one. The death-like looking figure of 
the Mohican, and the dark form of the Huron, gleamed before 
their eyes in such quick and confused succession, that the 
friends of the former knew not Avhere nor when to plant the 
succoring blow. It is true there were short and fleeting 
moments, when the fiery eyes of Magua were seen glittering, 
like the fabled organs of the basilisk, through the dusty wreath 
by which he was enveloped, and he read by those short and 
deadly glances the fate of the combat in the presence of his 
enemies ; ere, how'ever, any hostile hand could descend on his 
devoted head, its place was filled by the scowling visage of 


144 THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 

Chino’achofook. In this manner the scene of the combat was 
removed from the centre of the little plain to its verge. Ihe 
Mohican now found an opportunity to make a powerful thrust 
with his knife ; Mag’ua suddenly relinquished his grasp, and fell 
backward without motion, and seemingly without life. His 
adversary leaped on his feet, making the arches of the forest 
ring with the sounds of triumph. 

“ W ell done for the Delawares ! victory to the Mohican !” 
cried Hawk-eye, once more elevating the butt of the long and 
fatal rifle ; “ a finishing blow from a man without a cross will 
never tell against his honor, nor rob him of his right to the 
scalp.” 

But, at the very moment when the dangerous weapon was 
in the act of descending, the subtle Huron rolled swiftly from 
beneath the danger, over the edge of the precipice, and foiling 
on his feet, was seen leaping, with a single bound, into the 
centre of a thicket of low bushes, which clung along its sides. 

The Delawares, who had believed their enemy dead, uttered 
their exclamation of surprise, and were following with speed 
and clamor, like honnds in open view of the deer, when a shrill 
and peculiar cry fiom the scout instantly changed their pur- 
pose, and recalled them to the summit of the hill. 

“ ’Twas like himself,” cried the inveterate forester, whose 
prejudices contributed so largely to veil his natural sense of 
justice in all matters which concerned the Mingoes ; “ a lying 
and deceitful varlet as he is. An honest Delaware now, being 
fairly vanquished, would have lain still, and been knocked on 
the head, but these knavish Maquas cling to life like so many 
cats-o’-the-mountain. Let him go — let him go ; ’tis but one 
man, and he without rifle or bow, many a long mile from his 
French commerades ; and, like a rattler that has lost his fangs, 
he can do no farther mischief, until such time as he, and we 
too,, may leave the prints of our moccasins over a long reach of > 
sandy plain. See, Uncas,” he added, in Delaware, “ your 
father is flaying the scalps already. It may be well to go 
round and feel the vagabonds that are left., or we may liave 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 145 

another of them loping through the woods, and screeching like 
a jay that has been winged.” 

So saying, the honest, but implacable scout, made the circuit 
of the dead, into whose senseless bosoms he thrust his long 
knife, with as much coolness as though they had been so many 
brute carcases. He had, however, been anticipated by the 
elder Mohican, who had already torn the emblems of victory 
from the unresisting heads of the slain. 

But Uncas, denying his habits, we had almost said his 
nature, flew with instinctive delicacy, accompanied by Heyward, 
to the assistance of the females, and quickly releasing Alice, 
placed her in the arms of Cora. Wo shall not attempt to 
describe the gratitude to the Almighty Disposer of events 
which glowed in the bosoms of the sisters, who were thus unex- 
pectedly restored to life and to each other. Their thanksgivings 
were deep and silent; the offerings of their gentle spirits, 
burning brightest and purest on the secret altars of their hearts ; 
and their renovated and more earthly feelings exhibiting them- 
seb'es in long and fervent, though speechless caresses. As Alice 
rose from her knees, where she had sunk by the side of Cora, 
she threw hereelf on the bosom of the latter, and sobbed aloud 
the name of their aged father, while her soft, dove-like eyes, 
sparkled with the rays of hope. 

“ We are saved ! we are saved !” she murmured ; “ to return 
to the arms of our dear, dear father, and his heart will not be 
broken with grief. And you too, Cora, my sister ; my more 
than sister, my mother ; you too are spared. And Duncan,” 
she added, looking round upon the youth with a smile of 
ineffable innocence, “ even our own brave and noble Duncan has 
escaped without a hurt.” 

To these ardent and nearly incoherent words, Cora made no 
other answer than by straining the youthful speaker to her 
heart, as she bent over her, in melting tenderness. The man- 
hood of Heyward felt no shame in dropping tears over this 
spectacle of affectionate rapture; and Uncas stood, fresh and 
blood-stained from the combat, a calm, and, apparently, an 

1 


14C 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


unmoved looker-on, it is true, but with eyes that had already 
lost their fierceness, and were beaming with a sympathy that 
elevated him far above the intelligence, and advanced him 
probably centuries before the practices of his nation. 

During this display of emotions so natural in their situation, 
Ilawk-eye, whose vigilant distrust had satisfied itself that the 
Hurons, who disfigured the heavenly scene, no longer possessed 
the power to interrupt its harmony, approached David, and 
liberated him from the bonds he had, until that moment, 
endured with the most exemplary patience. 

“ There,” exclaimed the scout, casting the last withe behind 
him, “you are once more master of your own limbs, though 
you seem not to use them with much greater judgment than 
that in which they were first fashioned. If advice from one 
who is not older than yourself, but who, having lived most of 
his time in the wilderness, may be said to have experienced 
beyond his years, will give no otfence, you are welcome to my 
thoughts ; and these are, to part with the little tooting instru- 
ment in your jacket to the first fool you meet wdth, and buy 
some useful w^e’pon with the money, if it be only the barrel of 
a horseman’s pistol. By industry and care, you might thus 
come to some prefarment; for by this time, I should think, 
your eyes would plainly tell you that a carrion crow is a better 
bird than a mocking thresher. The one will, at least, remove 
foul sights from before the face of man, while the other is only 
good to brew disturbances in the 'svoods, by cheating the ears of 
all that hear them.” 

“Arms and the clarion for the battle, but the song of 
thanksgiving to the victory!” answered the liberated David. 
“Friend,” he added, thrusting forth his lean, delicate hand 
towards Hawk-eye, in kindness, while his eyes twinkled and 
grew moist, “ I thank thee that the hairs of my head still grow 
where they were first rooted by Providence ; for, though those 
of other men may be more glossy and curling, I have ever found 
mine own well suited to the brain they shelter. That I did not 
join myself to the battle, was less owing to disinclination, than 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 147 

to the bonds of the heathen. Valiant and skilful hast thou 
proved thyself in the conflict, and I hereby thank thee, before 
proceeding to discharge other and more important duties, 
because thou hast proved thyself well worthy of a Christian’s 
praise.” 

“ The thing is but a trifle, and what you may often see, if 
you tarry long among us,” returned the scout, a good deal soften- 
ed towards the man of song, by this unequivocal expression of 
gratitude. “ I have got back my old companion, ‘ kill-deer,’ ” he 
added, striking his hand on the breech of his rifle ; “ and that 
in itself is a victory. These Iroquois are cunning, but they out- 
witted themselves when they placed their fire-arms out of reach ; 
and had Uncas or his father been gifted with only their com- 
mon Indian patience, we should have come in upon the knaves 
with three bullets instead of one, and that would have made a 
finish of the whole pack ; yon lopeing varlet, as well as his com- 
merades. But ’twas all fore-ordered, and for the best.” 

“ Thou sayest well,” returned David, “ and hast caught the 
true spirit of Christianity. He that is to be saved will be saved, 
and he that is predestined to be damned will be damned. This 
is the doctrine of truth, and most consoling and refreshing it is 
to the true believer.” 

The scout, who by this time was seated, examining into the 
state of his rifle with a species of parental assiduity, now looked 
up at the other in a displeasure that he did not affect to conceal, 
roughly interrupting further speech. 

“ Doctrine or no doctrine,” said the sturdy woodsman, “ ’tis 
the belief of knaves, and the curse of an honest man. I can 
credit that yonder Huron was to fall by my hand, for with my 
own eyes I have seen it ; but nothing short of being a witness, 
will cause me to think he has met with any reward, or that 
Chingachgook, there, will be condemned at the final day.” 

“ You have no warranty for such an audacious doctrine, nor 
any covenant to support it,” cried David, who was deeply tinc- 
tured with the subtle distinctions which, in his time, and more 
especially in his province, had been drawn around the beautiful 


148 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


simplicity of revelation, by endeavoring to penetrate the awful 
mystery of the divine nature, supplying faith by self-sufficiency, 
and by consequence, involving those who reasoned from such 
human dogmas in absurdities and doubt; “your temple is 
reared on the sands, and the first tempest will wash away its 
foundation. I demand your authorities for such an uncharitable 
assertion (like other advocates of a system, David was not 
always accurate in his use of terms). Name chapter and verse ; 
in which of the holy books do you find language to support 
you ?” 

“ Book !” repeated Hawk-eye, with singular and ill-concealed 
disdain ; “ do you take me for a whimpering boy at the apron- 
string of one of your old gals ; and this good rifle on my knee 
for the feather of a goose’s wing, my ox’s horn for a bottle of 
ink, and my leathern pouch for a cross-barred handkercher to 
carry my dinner ? Book ! what have such as I, who am a 
warrior of the wilderness, though a man witliout a cross, to do 
with books ? I never read but in one, and the words that are 
written there are too simple and too plain to need much school- 
ing ; though I may boast that of forty long and hard-working 
years.” 

“ What call you the volume ?” said David, misconceiving the 
other’s meaning. 

“ ’Tis open before your eyes,” returned the scout ; “ and he 
who owns it is not a niggard of its use. I have heard it said 
that there are men who read in books to convince themselves 
there is a God. I know not but man may so deform his 
works in the settlements, as to leave that which is so clear in the 
wilderness a matter of doubt among traders and priests. If any 
such there be, and he will follow me from sun to sun, through 
the windings of the forest, he shall see enough to teach him that 
he is a fool, and that the greatest of his folly lies in striving 
to rise to the level of one he can never equal, be it in goodness, 
or be it in power.” 

The instant David discovered that he battled with a dis- 
putant who imbibed his faith from the lights of nature, eschew- 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 149 

iiig all subtleties of doctrine, he willingly abandoned a contro- 
versy, from which he believed neither profit nor credit was to 
be derived. While the scout was speaking, he had also seated 
himself, and producing the ready little volume and the iron- 
rimmed spectacles, he prepared to discharge a duty, which 
nothing but the unexpected assault he had received in his 
orthodoxy could have so long suspended. He w'as, in truth, a 
minstrel of the western continent — of a much later day, certainly, 
than those gifted bards, who formerly sang the profane renown 
of baron and prince, but after the spirit of his own age and 
country ; and he was now prepared to exercise the cunning of 
his craft, in celebration of, or rather in thanksgiving for, the 
recent victory. He waited patiently for Hawk-eye to cease, 
then lifting his eyes, together with his voice, he said, aloud — 

“ I invite you, friends, to join in praise for this signal deliver- 
ance from the hands of barbarians and infidels, to the comfort- 
able and solemn tones of the tune, called ‘Northampton.’” 

He next named the page and verse where the rhymes 
selected were to be found, and applied the pitch-pipe to his lips, 
with the decent gravity that he had been wont to use in the 
temple. This time he was, however, without any accompani- 
ment, for the sisters were just then pouring out those tender 
effusions of affection which have been already alluded to. 
Nothing deterred by the smallness of his audience, which, in 
truth, consisted only of the discontented scout, he raised his 
voice, commencing and ending the sacred song without accident 
or interruption of any kind. 

Hawk-eye listened, while he coolly adjusted his flint and 
reloaded his rifle ; but the sounds, wanting the extraneous 
assistance of scene and sympathy, failed to awaken his slum 
bering emotions. Never minstrel, or by whatever more suitable 
name David should be known, drew upon his talents in the 
presence of more insensible auditors ; though considering the 
singleness and sincerity of his motive, it is probable that no bard 
of profane song ever uttered notes that ascended so near to that 
throne where all homage and praise is due. The scout shook liis 


150 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


head, and muttering some unintelligible words, among which 
“ Throat” and “ Iroquois,” were alone audible, he walked away, 
to collect, and to examine into, the state of the captured arsenal of 
the Hurons. In this office he was now joined by Chingach- 
gook, who found his own, as well as the rifle of his son, among 
the arms. Even Heyward and David were furnished with 
weapons ; nor was ammunition wanting to render them 
all effectual. 

When the foresters had made their selection, and distributed 
their prizes, the scout announced that the hour had arrived 
when it was necessary to move. By this time the song of 
Gamut had ceased, and the sisters had learned to still the 
exhibition of their emotions. Aided by Duncan and the 
younger Mohican, the two latter descended the precipitous sides 
of that hill which they had so lately ascended under so very 
different auspices, and whose summit had so nearly proved the 
scene of their massacre. At the foot, they found the Narra- 
gansets browsing the herbage of the bushes ; and having 
mounted, they followed the movements of a guide, who, in the 
most deadly straits, had so often proved himself their friend. 
The journey was, however, short. Hawk-eye, leaving the blind 
path that the Hurons had followed, turned short to his right, 
and entering the thicket, he crossed a babbling brook, and 
halted in a narrow dell, under the shade of a few water elms. 
Their distance from the base of the fatal hill was but a few rods, 
and the steeds had been serviceable only in crossing the shallov; 
stream. 

The scout and the Indians appeared to be familiar with the 
sequestered place where they now were ; for, leaning their rifles 
against the trees, they commenced throwing aside the dried 
leaves, and opening the blue clay, out of which a clear and 
sparkling spring of bright, glancing water, quickly bubbled. 
The white man then looked about him, as though seeking for 
some object, which was not to be found as readily as he 
expected — 

“ Them careless imps, the Mohawks, with their Tuscarora and 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


151 


Onondaga brethren, have been here slaking their thirst,” he 
muttered, “ and the vagabonds have thrown away the gourd ! 
This is the way with benefits, when they are bestowed on such 
disremembering hounds ! Here has the Lord laid his hand, in 
the midst of the howling wilderness, for their good, and raised 
a fountain of water from the bowels of the ’arth, that might 
laugh at the richest shop of apothecary’s ware in all the colonies ; 
and see ! the knaves have trodden in the clay, and deformed the 
cleanliness of the place, as though they were brute beasts, instead 
of human men.” 

Uncas silently extended towards him the desired gourd, which 
the spleen of Hawk-eye had hitherto prevented him from 
observing, on a branch of an elm. Filling it with water, he 
retired a short distance, to a place where the ground was more 
fij-m and dry ; here he coolly seated himself, and after taking a 
long, and, apparently, a grateful draught, he commenced a very 
strict examination of the fragments of food left by the Hurons, 
which had hung in a wallet on his arm. 

“ Thank you, lad !” he continued, returning the empty gourd 
to Uncas; “now we will see how these rampaging Hurons 
lived, when outlying in ambushments. Look at this ! The varlets 
know the better pieces of the deer ; and one would think they 
might carve and roast a saddle, equal to the best cook in the 
land ! But everything is raw, for the Iroquois are thorough 
savages. Uncas, take my steel, and kindle a fire; a mouthful 
of a tender broil will give natur’ a helping hand, after so long a 
trail.” 

Heyward, perceiving that their guides now set about their 
repast in sober earnest, assisted the ladies to alight, and placed 
himself at their side, not unwilling to enjoy a few moments of 
grateful rest, after the bloody scene he had just gone through. 
While the culinary process was in hand, curiosity induced him 
to inquire into the circumstances which had led to their timely 
and unexpected rescue — 

“ How is it that we see you so soon, my generous friend, ’ he 
asked, “ and without aid from the garrison of Edward ?” 


162 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ Had we gone to the bend in the river, we might have been 
in time to rake the leaves over your bodies, but too late to have 
saved your scalps,” coolly answered the scout. “No, no; 
instead of throwing away strength and opportunity by crossing 
to the fort, we lay by, under the bank of the Hudson, waiting to 
watch the movements of the Hurons.” 

“ You were, then, witnesses of all that passed ?” 

“ Not of all ; for Indian sight is too keen to be easily cheated, 
and we kept close. A difficult matter it was, too, to keep this 
Mohican boy snug in the ambushment. Ah! Uncas, Uncas, 
your behavior was more like that of a curious woman than of a 
warrior on his scent.” 

Uncas permitted his eyes to turn for an instant on the sturdy 
countenance of the speaker, but he neither spoke nor gave any 
indication of repentance. On the contrary, Heyward thought 
the manner of the young Mohican was disdainful, if not a little 
fierce, and that he suppressed passions that were ready to 
explode, as much in compliment to the listeners, as from the 
deference he usually paid to his Avhite associate. 

“ You saw our capture ?” Heyward next demanded. 

“We heard it,” was the significant answer. “ An Indian yell 
is plain language to men who have passed their days in the 
woods. But when you landed, we were driven to crawl, like 
sarpents, beneath the leaves ; and then we lost sight of you 
entirely, until we placed eyes on you again, trussed to the trees, 
and ready bound for an Indian massacre.” 

“ Our rescue was the deed of Providence. It was nearly a 
miracle that you did not mistake the path, for the Hurons 
divided, and each band had its horses.” 

“ Ay ! there we were thrown off the scent, and might, indeed, 
have lost the trail, had it not been for Uncas; we took the path, 
however, that led into the wilderness; for we judged, and 
judged rightly, that the savages would hold that course with 
their prisoners. But when we had followed it for many miles, 
without finding a single twig broken, as I had advised, my mind 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


153 


misgave me ; especially as all the footsteps had the prints of 
moccasins.” 

“ Our captors had the precaution to see us shod like them- 
selves,” said Duncan, raising a foot, and exhibiting the buckskin 
he wore. 

“ Ay ! ’twas judgmatical, and like themselves : though we 
were too expart to be thrown from a trail by so common an 
invention.” 

“ To what, then, are we indebted for our safety ?” 

“ To what, as a white man who has no taint of Indian blood, 
I should be ashamed to own ; to the judgment of the young 
Mohican, in matters which I should know better than he, but 
which I can now hardly believe to be true, though my own eyes 
tell me it is so.” 

“ ’Tis extraordinary ! will you not name the reason ?” 

“ Dncas was bold enough to say, that the beasts ridden by 
the gentle ones,” continued Hawk-eye, glancing his eyes, not 
without curious interest, on the fillies of the ladies, “ planted the 
legs of one side on the ground at the same time, which is 
contrary to the movements of all trotting four-footed animals of 
my knowledge, except the bear. And yet here are hoi-ses that 
always journey in this manner, as my own eyes have seen, and 
as their trail has shown for twenty long miles.” 

“ ’Tis the merit of the animal ! They come from the shores 
of Narraganset Bay, in the small province of Providence 
Plantations, and are celebrated for their hardihood, and the 
ease of this peculiar movement ; though other horses are not 
unfrequently trained to the same.” 

“ It may be — it may be,” said Hawk-eye, who had 
listened with singular attention to this explanation ; “ though I 
am a man who has the full blood of the whites, my judgment 
in deer and beaver is greater than in beasts of burden. Major 
Effingham has many noble chargers, but I have never seen one 
travel after such a sideling gait.” 

“ True ; for he would value the animals for very different 
properties. Still is this a breed highly esteemed, and as you 

7 ^ 


}54 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

witness, much honored with the burdens it is often destined 
to bear.” 

The Mohicans had suspended their operations about the 
glimmering fire, to listen ; and when Duncan had done, they 
looked at each other significantly, the father uttering the never- 
failing exclamation of surprise. The scout ruminated, like a 
man digesting his newly acquired knowledge, and once more 
stole a curious glance at the horses. 

“ I dare to say there are even stranger sights to be seen in the 
settlements !” he said, at length ; “ natur, is sadly abused by 
man, when he once gets the mastery. But, go sideling or go 
straight, Uncas had seen the movement, and their trail led us 
on to the broken bush. The outer branch, near the prints of 
one of the horses, was bent upward, as a lady breaks a flower 
from its stem, but all the rest were ragged and broken down, as 
if the strong hand of a man had been tearing them ! So 1 
concluded, that the cunning varments had seen tlie twig bent, 
and had torn the rest, to make us believe a buck had been 
feeling the boughs with his antlers.” 

“ I do believe your sagacity did not deceive you ; for some 
such thing occurred !” 

“That was easy to see,” added the scout, in no degree 
conscious of having exhibited any extraordinary sagacity ; “ and 
a veiy different matter it was from a waddling horse ! It then 
struck me the Mingoes would push for this spring, for the 
knaves well know the vartue of its waters !” 

“Is it, then, so famous?” demanded Heyward, examining, 
with a more curious eye, the secluded dell, with its bubbling 
fountain, surrounded, as it was, by earth of a deep dingy 
brown. 

“ Few red-skins, who travel south and east of the great lakes, 
but have heard of its qualities. Will you taste for yourself ?” 

Heyward took the gourd, and after swallowing a little of the 
water, threw it aside with grimaces of discontent. The scout 
laughed in his silent, but heartfelt manner, and shook his head 
with vast satisfaction. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 155 

“ Ah ! you want the flavor that one gets by habit ; the time 
was when I liked it as little as yourself ; but I have come to my 
taste, and I now crave it, as a deer does the licks.^ Your high 
spiced wines are not better liked than a red-skin relishes this 
water ; especially when his natur, is ailing. But Uncas has 
made his fire, and it is time we think of eating, for our journey 
is long, and all before us.” 

Interrupting the dialogue by this abrupt transition, the scout 
had instant recourse to the fragments of food which had 
escaped the voracity of the Hurons. A very summary process 
completed the simple cookery, when he and the Mohicans 
commenced their humble meal, with the silence and character- 
istic diligence of men, who ate in order to enable themselves to 
endure great and unremitting toil. 

When this necessary, and, happily, grateful duty had been 
performed, each of the foresters stooped and took a long and 
parting draught, at that solitary and silent spring, f around 
which and its sister fountains, within fifty years, the wealth, 
beauty, and talents, of a hemisphere, were to assemble in 
throngs, in pursuit of health and pleasure. Then Hawk-eye 
announced his determination to proceed. The sisters resumed 
their saddles; Duncan and David grasped their rifles, and 
followed on their footsteps ; the scout leading the advance, and 
the Mohicans bringing up the rear. The whole party moved 
swiftly through the narrow path, towards the north, leaving the 
healing waters to mingle unheeded with the adjacent brook, and 
the bodies of the dead to fester on the neighboring mount, 
without the rites of sepulture ; a fate but too common to the 
warriors of the woods, to excite either commiseration or 
comment. 

♦ Many of the animals of the American forests resort to those spots where salt 
springs are found. These are called “ licks ” or “ salt licks,” in the language of the 
country, from the circumstance that the quadruped is often obliged to lick the 
earth, in order to obtain the saline particles. These licks are great places of resort 
with the hunters, who waylay their game near the paths that lead to them. 

t The scene of the foregoing incidents is on the spot where the village of Balls- 
toa now stands ; one of the two principal watering places of America. 


15C 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER XIIL 

ril seek a readier path. 

Parnell. 


The route taken by Hawk-eye lay across those sandy plains, 
relieved by occasional valleys and swells of land, which had 
been traversed by their party on the morning of the same day, 
with the baffled Magua for their guide. The sun had novv 
fallen low towards the distant mountains ; and as their journey 
lay through the interminable forest, the heat was no longer 
oppressive. Their progress, in consequence, was proportionate ; 
and long before the twilight gathered about them, they had 
made good many toilsome miles on their return. 

The hunter, like the savage whose place he filled, seemed to 
select among the blind signs of their wild route, with a species 
of instinct, seldom abating his speed, and never pausing to 
deliberate. A rapid and oblique glance at the moss on the 
trees, with an occasional upward gaze towards the setting sun, 
or a steady but passing look at the direction of the numerous 
watercourses, through which he waded, were sufficient to 
determine his path, and remove his greatest difficulties. In the 
meantime, the forest began to change its hues, losing that 
lively green which had embellished its arches, in the graver 
light which is the usual precursor of the close of day. 

While the eyes of the sisters were endeavoring to catch 
glimpses through the trees,- of the flood of golden glory which 
formed a glittering halo around the sun, tinging here and there 
with ruby streaks, or bordering with narrow edgings of shining 
yellow, a mass of clouds that lay piled at no great distance 
above the western hills. Hawk-eye turned suddenly, and, 
pointing upwards towards the gorgeous heavens, he spoke — 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 15Y 

“ Yonder is the signal given to man to seek his food and 
natural rest,” he said ; “ better and wiser would it be, if he could 
understand the signs of nature, and take a lesson from the fowls 
of the air, and the beasts of the fields ! Our night, however, 
will soon be over ; for, with the moon, we must be up and 
moving again. I remember to have fout the Maquas, herea- 
ways, in the first war in which I ever drew blood from man ; 
and w^e threw up a work of blocks, to keep the ravenous 
varments from handling our scalps. If my marks do not fail me, 
we shall find the place a few rods further to our left.” 

Without waiting for an assent, or, indeed, for any reply, the 
sturdy hunter moved boldly into a dense thicket of young 
chestnuts, shoving aside the branches of the exuberant shoots 
which nearly covered the ground, like a man who expected, at 
each step, to discover some object he had formerly known. 
The recollection of the scout did not deceive him. After pene- 
trating through the brush, matted as it was with briers, for a 
few hundred feet, he entered an open space, that surrounded a 
low, green hillock, which was crowned by the decayed block- 
house in question. This rude and neglected building was one 
of those deserted works, which, having been thrown up on an 
emergency, had been abandoned with the disappearance of 
danger, and was now quietly crumbling in the solitude of the 
forest, neglected, and nearly forgotten, like the circumstances 
which had caused it to be reared. Such memorials of the pas- 
sage and struggles of man are yet frequent througliout the 
broad barrier of wilderness which once separated the hostile 
provinces, and form a species of ruins that are intimately asso- 
ciated with the recollections of colonial history, and which are 
in appropriate keeping with the gloomy character of the sur- 
rounding scenery.^ The roof of bark had long since fallen. 


* Some years since, the writer was shooting in the vicinity of the ruins of Fort 
Oswego, which stands on the shores of Lake Ontario. His eame was deor, and his 
cljasc a forest that stretched, with littie interruption, fifty miles inland. Unexpect- 
edly he came upon six or eight ladders lying in the woods within a short distance 
of each otlier. They were rudely made and much decayed. Wondering what could 


158 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


and mingled with the soil ; but the huge logs of pine, which 
had been hastily thrown together, still preserved their relative 
positions, though one angle of the work had given way under 
the pressure, and threatened a speedy downfall to the remain- 
der of the rustic edifice. While Heyward and his companions 
hesitated to approach a building so decayed. Hawk-eye and the 
Indians entered within the low walls, not only without fear, but 
with obvious interest. While the former surveyed the ruins, 
both internally and externally, with the curiosity of one whose 
recollections were reviving at each moment, Chingachgook 
related to his son, in the language of the Delawares, and with 
the pride of a conqueror, the brief history of the skirmish which 
had been fought, in his youth, in that secluded spot. A strain 
of melancholy, however, blended with his triumph, rendering 
his voice, as usual, soft and musical. 

In the meantime, the sisters gladly dismounted, and pre- 
pared to enjoy their halt in the coolness of the evening, and in 
a security' which they believed nothing but the beasts of the 
forest could invade. 

“ Would not our resting-place have been more retired, my 
worthy friend,” demanded the more vigilant Duncan, perceiving 
that the scout had already finished his short survey, “ had we 
chosen a spot less known, and one more rarely visited than 
this ?” 

“ Few live who know the block-house was ever raised,” was 
the slow and musing answer ; “ ’tis not often that books are 
made, and narratives written, of such a skrimmage as was here 
fout atween the Mohicans and the Mohawks, in a war of their 
own waging. I was then a younker, and went out with the 

have assembled so many of these instruments in such a place, he sought an old 
man who resided near for the explanation. 

During the war of 1776 Fort Oswego was held by the British. An expedition had 
been sent two hundred miles through the wilderness to surprise the fort. It appears 
that the Americans, on reaching the spot named, which was within a mile or two 
of the fort, first learned that they were expected, and in great danger of being cut off. 
They threw away their scaling ladders, and made a rapid retreat. These ladde.*^ 
had lain unmolested thirty years, in the spot where they had thus been cast. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


169 


Delawares, because I know’d they were a scandalized and 
wronged race. Forty days and forty nights did the imps crave 
our blood around this pile of logs, which I designed and partly 
reared, being, as you’ll remember, no Indian myself, but a man 
without a cross. The Delawares lent themselves to the work, 
and we made it good, ten to twenty, until our numbers were 
nearly equal, and then we sallied out upon the hounds, and not 
a man of them ever got back to tell the hite of his party. Yes, 
yes ; I was then young, and new to the sight of blood ; and 
not relishing the thought that creatures who had spirits like 
myself should lay on the naked ground, to be torn asunder by 
beasts, or to bleach in the rains, I buried the dead with my 
own hands, under that very little hillock where you have placed 
yourselves ; and no bad seat does it make neither, though it be 
raised by the bones of mortal men.” 

Heyward and the sisters arose, on the instant, from the 
grassy sepulchre ; nor could the two latter, notwithstanding the 
terrific scenes they had so recently passed through, entirely sup- 
press an emotion of natural horror, when they found themselves 
in such familiar contact with the grave of the dead Mohawks. 
The grey light, the gloomy little area of dark grass, sur- 
rounded by its border of brush, beyond which the pines rose, in 
breathing silence, apparently, into the very clouds, and the 
deathlike stillness of the vast forest, were all in unison to deepen 
such a sensation. 

“ They are gone, and they are harmless,” continued Hawk- 
eye, waving his hand, with a melancholy smile, at their mani- 
fest alarm : “ they’ll never shout the war-whoop nor strike a 
blow with the tomahawk again ! And of all those who aided in 
placing them where they lie, Chingachgook and I only are liv- 
ing ! The brothers and family of the Mohican formed our war- 
pai ty ; and you see before you all that are now left of his race.” 

The eyes of the listeners involuntarily sought the forms of the 
Indians, with a compassionate interest in their desolate fortune. 
Their dark persons were still to be seen within the shadows of 
the block-house, the son listening to the relation of his father 


1(30 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


with that sort of intenseness which would be created by a 
narrative that redounded so much to the honor of those whose 
names he had long revered for their courage and savage virtues. 

“ I had thought the Delawares a pacific people,” said 
Duncan, “ and that they never waged war in person ; trust- 
ing the defence of their lands to those very Mohawks that you 
slew !” 

“ ’Tis true in part,” returned the scout, “ and yet, at the bot- 
tom, ’tis a wicked lie. Such a treaty was made in ages gone 
by, through the deviltries of the Dutchers, who wished to dis- 
arm the natives that had the best right to the country, where 
they had settled themselves. The Mohicans, though a part of 
the same nation, having to deal with the English, never entered 
into the silly bargain, but kept to their manhood ; as in truth 
did the Delawares, when their eyes were opened to their folly. 
You see before you a chief of the great Mohican Sagamores ! 
Once his family could chase their deer over tracts of country 
wider than that which belongs to the Albany Patteroon, with- 
out crossing brook or hill that was hot their own ; but what is 
left to their descendant ! He may find his six feet of earth 
when God chooses, and keep it in peace, perhaps, if he has a 
friend who will take the pains to sink his head so low, that the 
ploughshares cannot reach it !” 

“ Enough !” said Heyward, apprehensive that the subject 
might lead to a discussion that would interrupt the harmony 
so necessary to the preservation of his fair companions : “ we 
have journeyed far, and few among us are blessed with forms 
like that of yours, which seems to know neither fatigue nor 
weakness.” 

“ The sinews and bones of a man carry me throuofh it all ” 

^ 0 7 

said the hunter, surveying his muscular limbs with a simplicity 
that betrayed the honest pleasure the compliment afforded him : 

“ there are larger and heavier men to be found in the settle- 
ments, but you might travel many days in a city before you 
could meet one able to walk fifty miles without stopping to take 
breath, or who has kept the hounds within hearing during a 


THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 


161 


chase of hours. However, as flesh and blood are not always the 
same, it is quite reasonable to suppose that the gentle ones are 
willing to rest, after all they have seen and done this day. 
Uncas, clear out the spring, while your father and 1 make 
a cover for their tender heads of these chestnut shoots, and a bed 
of gi-ass and leaves.” 

The dialogue ceased, while the hunter and his companions 
busied themselves in preparations for the comfort and protection 
of those they guided. A spring, which many long years before 
had induced the natives to select the place for their temporary 
fortification, was soon cleared of leaves, and a fountain of crystal 
gushed from the bed, diffusing its waters over the verdant hil- 
lock. A corner of the building was then roofed in such a man- 
ner as to exclude the heavy dew of the climate, and. piles 
of sweet shrubs and dried leaves were laid beneath it for the 
sisters to repose on. 

While the diligent woodsmen were employed in this manner, 
Cora and Alice partook of that refreshment which duty required 
much more than inclination prompted them to accept. They 
then retired within the walls, and first offering up their thanks- 
givings for past mercies, and petitioning for a continuance of 
the Divine favor throughout the coming night, they laid their 
tender forms on the fragrant couch, and in spite of recollections 
and forebodings, soon sank into those slumbers which nature so 
imperiously demanded, and which were sweetened by hopes for 
the morrow. Duncan had prepared himself to pass the night 
in watchfulness near them, just without the ruin, but the scout, 
perceiving his intention, pointed towards Chingachgook, as ho 
coolly disposed his own person on the grass, and said — 

“ The eyes of a white man are too heavy and too blind for 
such a watch as this ! The Mohican will be our sentinel, there- 
fore let us sleep.” 

“T proved myself a sluggard on my post during the past 
night,” said Heyward, “and have less need of repose than you, 
who did more credit to the character of a soldier. Let all the 
party seek their rest, then, while I hold the guard.” 


162 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

“ If we lay among* the white tents of the 60th, and in front 
of an enemy like the French, I could not ask for a better 
watchman,” returned the scout ; “ but in the darkness and 
among the signs of the wilderness your judgment would be like 
the folly of a child, and your vigilance thrown away. Do then, 
like Uncas and myself, sleep, and sleep in safety.” 

Heyward perceived, in truth, that the younger Indian had 
thrown his form on the side of the hillock while they were 
talking, like one who sought to make the most of the time 
allotted to rest, and that his example had been followed by 
David, whose voice literally “ clove to his jaws” with the fever 
of his wound, heightened, as it was, by their toilsome march. 
Unwilling to prolong a useless discussion, the young man 
affected to comply, by posting his back against the logs of the 
block-house, in a half-recumbent posture, though resolutely de- 
termined, in his own mind, not to close an eye until he had 
delivered his precious charge into the arms of Munro himself. 
Hawk-eye, believing he had prevailed, soon fell asleep, and a 
silence as deep as the solitude in which they had found it, per- 
vaded the retired spot. 

For many minutes Duncan succeeded in keeping his senses 
on the alert, and alive to every moaning sound that arose from 
the forest. His vision became more acute as the shades of 
evening settled on the place ; and even after the stars were 
glimmering above his head, he was able to distinguish the 
recumbent forms of his companions, as they lay stretched on the 
grass, and to note the person of Chingachgook, who sat upright 
and motionless as one of the trees which formed the dark bar- 
rier on every side of them. He still heard the gentle breathings 
of the sisters, who lay within a few feet of him, and not a leaf 
was ruffled by the passing air, of which his ear did not detect 
the whispering sound. At length, however, the mournful notes 
of a whip-poor-will became blended with the meanings of an 
owl ; his heavy eyes occasionally sought the bright rays of the 
Btare, and then he fancied he saw them through the fallen lids. 
At instants of-momentary wakefulness he mistook a bush for his 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 163 

a3sociate sentinel ; liis head next sank upon his shoulder, which, 
in its turn, sought the support of the ground ; and, finally, his 
whole person became relaxed and pliant, and the young man 
sank into a deep sleep, dreaming that he was a knight of 
ancient chivahy, holding his midnight vigils before the tent of a 
recaptured princess, whose favor he did not despair of gaining, 
by such a proof of devotion and watchfulness. 

How long the tired Duncan lay in this insensible state he 
never knew himself, but his slumbering visions had been long 
lost in total forgetfulness, when he was awakened by a light tap 
on the shoulder. Aroused by this signal, slight as it was, he 
sprang upon his feet with a confused recollection of the self- 
imposed duty he had assumed with the commencement of the 
night — 

“ Who comes ?” he demanded, feeling for his sword, at the 
place where it was usually suspended. “ S.peak ! friend or 
enemy V 

“ Friend,” replied the low voice of Chingachgook ; who, 
pointing upwards at the luminary which was shedding its mild 
light through the opening in the trees, directly on their bivouac, 
immediately added, in his rude English, “moon comes, and 
white man’s fort far — far off ; time to move, when sleep shuts 
both eyes of the Frenchman !” 

“ You say true ! call up your friends, and bridle the horses, 
while I prepare my own companions for the march !” 

“ We are awake, Duncan,” said the soft, silvery tones of Alice 
within the building, “and ready to travel very fast, after so 
refreshing a sleep ; but you have watched through the tedious 
night in our behalf, after having endured so much fatigue the 
livelong day !” 

“Say, rather, I would have watched, but my treacherous 
eyes betrayed me ; twice have I proved myself unfit for the 
trust I bear.” 

“ Nay, Duncan, deny it not,” interrupted the smiling Alice, 
issuing from the shadows of the building into the light of the 
moon, in all the loveliness of her freshened beauty ; “ I know 


164 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


you to be a heedless one, when self is the object of your care, 
and but too vigilant in favor of others. Can we not tarry here 
a little longer, while you find the rest you need ? Cheerfully, 
most cheerfully, will Cora and I keep the vigils, while you, and 
all these brave men, endeavor to snatch a little sleep !” 

“ If shame could cure me of my drowsiness, I should never 
close an eye again,” said the uneasy youth, gazing at the 
ingenuous countenance of Alice, where, however, in its sweet 
solicitude, he read nothing to confirm his half awakened sus- 
picion. “ It is but too true, that after leading you into danger 
by my heedlessness, I have not even the merit of guarding your 
pillows as should become a soldier.” 

“No one but Duncan himself should accuse Duncan of such 
a weakness. Go, then, and sleep ; believe me, neither of us, 
weak girls as we are, will betray our watch.” 

The young man was relieved from the awkwardness of mak- 
ing any further protestations of his own demerits, by an excla- 
mation from Chingachgook, and the attitude of riveted attention 
assumed by his son. 

“ The Mohicans hear an enemy !” whispered Hawk-eye, who, 
by this time, in common with the whole party, was awake and 
stirring. “They scent danger in the wind !” 

“ God forbid !” exclaimed Heyward. Surely we have had 
enough of bloodshed !” 

While he spoke, however, the young soldier seized his rifle, 
and advancing towards the front, prepared to atone for his 
venial remissness, by freely exposing his life in defence of those 
he attended. 

“ ’Tis some creature of the forest prowling around us in quest 
of food,” he said, in a whisper, as soon as the low, and appa- 
rently distant sounds, which had startled the Mohicans, reached 
his own ears. 

“ Hist !” returned the attentive scout ; “ ’tis man ; even I 
can now tell his tread, poor as my senses are when compared to 
on Indian's ! That scampering Huron has fallen in with one 
of Montcalm’s outlying parties, and they have struck upon our 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


165 


trail. I shouldn’t like, myself, to spill more human blood in 
this spot,” he added, looking around with anxiety in his features, 
at the dim objects by which he was surrounded; “ but what must 
be, must ! Lead the horses into the block-house, Uncas ; and, 
friends, do you follow to the same shelter. Poor and old as it 
is, it offers a cover, and has rung with the crack of a rifle afore 
to-night !” 

He was instantly obeyed, the Mohicans leading the Narra- 
gansets within the ruin, whither the whole party repaired, with 
the most guarded silence. 

The sounds of approaching footsteps were now too distinctly 
audible, to leave any doubts as to the nature of the interruption. 
They were soon mingled with voices calling to each other in 
an Indian dialect, which the hunter, in a whisper, afflrmed to 
Heyward, was the language of the Hurons. When the party 
reached the point where the horses had entered the thicket 
which surrounded the block-house, they were evidently at fault, 
having lost those marks which, until that moment, had directed 
their pursuit. 

It would seem by the voices that twenty men were soon 
collected at that one spot, mingling their different opinions and 
advice in noisy clamor. 

“ The knaves know our weakness,” whispered Hawk-eye, who 
stood by the side of Heyward, in deep shade, looking through 
an opening in the logs, “ or they wouldn’t indulge their idleness 
in such a squaw’s march. Listen to the reptiles! each man 
among them seems to have two tongues, and but a single leg.” 

Duncan, brave as he was in the combat, could not, in such a 
moment of painful suspense, make any reply to the cool and 
characteristic remark of the scout. He only grasped his rifle 
more firmly, and fastened his eyes upon the narrow opening, 
through which he gazed upon the moonlight view with increas- 
ing anxiety. The deeper tones of one who spoke as having 
authority were next heard, amid a silence that denoted the 
respect with which his orders, or rather advice, was received. 
After which, by the rustling of leaves, and cracking of dried 


166 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


twigs, it was apparent the savages were separating in pursuit 
of the lost trail. Fortunately for the pursued, the light of the 
moon, while it shed a flood of mild lustre upon the little area 
around the ruin, was not sufficiently strong to penetrate the 
deep arches of the forest, where the objects still lay in deceptive 
shadow. The search proved fruitless ; for so short and sudden 
had been the passage from the faint path the travellers had 
journeyed into the thicket, that every trace of their footsteps 
was lost in the obscurity of the woods. 

It was not long, however, before the restless savages were 
heard beating the brush, and gradually approaching the inner 
edge of that dense border of young chestnuts which encircled 
the little area. 

“ They are coming,” muttered Heyward, endeavoring to 
thrust his rifle through the chink in the logs ; “ let us fire on 
their approach.” 

“ Keep everything in the shade,” returned the scout ; “ the 
snapping of a flint, or even the smell of a single karnel of the 
brimstone, would bring the hungry varlets upon us in a body. 
Should it please God that we must give battle for the scalps, 
trust to the experience of men who know the ways of the 
savages, and who are not often backward when the war-whoop 
is howled.” 

Duncan cast his eyes behind him, and saw that the trembling 
sisters were cowering in the far corner of the building, while 
the Mohicans stood in the shadow, like two upright posts, 
ready, and apparently willing, to strike, when the blow should 
be needed. Curbing his impatience, he again looked out upon 
the area, and awaited the result in silence. At that instant the 
thicket opened, and a tall and armed Huron advanced a few 
paces into the open space. As he gazed upon the silent block- 
house, the moon fell full upon his swarthy countenance, and 
betrayed its surprise and curiosity. He made the exclamation 
which usually accompanies the former emotion in an Indian, 
and, calling in a low voice, soon drew a companion to his side. 

These children of the woods stood together for several 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 167 

moments pointing at the crumbling edifice, and conversing in 
tlie unintelligible language of their tribe. They then approached, 
though with slow and cautious steps, pausing every instant to 
look at the building, like startled deer, whose curiosity struggled 
powerfully with their awakened apprehensions for the mastery. 
The foot of one of them suddenly rested on the mound, and he 
stooped to examine its nature. At this moment, Heyward 
observed that the scout loosened his knife in its sheath, and 
lowered the muzzle of his rifle. Imitating these movements, 
the young man prepared himself for the struggle, which now 
seemed inevitable. 

The savages were so near, that the least motion in one of the 
horses, or even a breath louder than common, would have 
betrayed the fugitives. But, in discovering the character of the 
mound, the attention of the Hurons appeared directed to a 
different object. They spoke together, and the sounds of their 
voices were low and solemn, as if influenced by a reverence that 
was deeply blended with awe. Then they drew warily back, 
keeping their eyes riveted on the ruin, as if they expected to 
see the apparitions of the dead issue from its silent walls, until 
having reached the boundary of the area, they moved slowly 
into the thicket, and disappeared. 

Hawk-eye dropped the breech of his rifle to the earth, and 
drawing a long, free breath, exclaimed in an audible whisper — 

“ Ay ! they respect the dead, and it has this time saved their 
own lives, and it may be, the lives of better men too.” 

Heyward lent his attention, for a single moment, to his com- 
panion, but without replying, he again turned towards those 
wdio just then interested him more. He heard the two Hurons 
leave the bushes, and it was soon plain that all the pursuers 
were gathered about them, in deep attention to their report. 
After a few’ minutes of earnest and solemn dialogue, altogether 
different from the noisy clamor with w’hich they had first col- 
lected about the spot, the sounds grew fainter and more distant, 
and finally were lost in the depths of the forest. 

Hawk-eye waited until a signal from the listening Chingach- 


168 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


gook assured liira, that every sound from the retiring partj was 
completely swallowed by the distance, when he motioned to 
Heyward to lead forth the horses, and to assist the sisters into 
their saddles. The instant this was done, they issued through 
the broken gateway, and stealing out by a direction opposite to 
the one by which they had entered, they quitted the spot, the 
sisters casting furtive glances at the silent grave and crumbling 
ruin, as they left the soft light of the moon, to bury themselves 
in the gloom of the woods. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


1G9 


CHAPTER XIV. 


Guard . — Qui est la 1 

Puc.— Paisans, pauvres gens de France. 

Kino Henry VI. 

During the rapid movement from the block-house, and until 
the party was deeply buried in the forest, each individual was 
too much interested in the escape, to hazard a word even in 
whispers. The scout resumed his post in the advance, though 
his steps, after he had thrown a safe distance between himself 
and his enemies, were more deliberate than in their previous 
march, in consequence of his utter ignorance of the localities of 
the surrounding woods. More than once he halted to consult 
with his confederates, the Mohicans, pointing upwards at the 
moon, and examining the barks of the trees with care. In 
these brief pauses, He 3 "ward and the sisters listened, with senses 
rendered doubly acute by the danger, to detect any symptoms 
which might announce the proximity of their foes. At such 
moments, it seemed as if a vast range of country lay buried in 
eternal sleep ; not the least sound arising from the forest, unless 
it was the distant and scarcely audible rippling of a water- 
course. Birds, beasts, and man, appeared to slumber alike, if, 
indeed, any of the latter were to be found in that wide tract of 
wilderness. But the sounds of the rivulet, feeble and mur- 
muring as they were, relieved the guides at once from no 
trifling embarrassment, and towards it they immediately held 
their way. 

When the banks of the little stream were gained. Hawk-eye 
made another halt ; and, taking the moccasins from his feet, he 
invited Heyward and Gamut to follow his example. He then 
entered the water, and for near an hour they travelled in the 

8 


110 


THE LAST OF THE M O H I C A K 55 . 


bed of the brook, leaving no trail. The moon had already sunk 
into an immense pile of black clouds, which lay impending 
above the western hoiizon, when they issued from tlie low and 
devious water-course to rise again to the light and level of the 
sandy but wooded plain. Here the scout seemed to be once 
more at home, for he held on his way with the certainty and 
diligence of a man who moved in the security of his own know- 
ledge. The path soon became more uneven, and the travellers 
could plainly perceive that the mountains dievv nigher to them 
on each hand, and that they were, in truth, about entering one 
of their gorges. Suddenly, Hawk-eye made a pause, and wait- 
ing until he was joined by the whole party, he spoke, thougli in 
tones so low and cautious, that they added to the solemnity of 
his words, in the quiet and darkness of the place. 

“ It is easy to know the pathways, and to find the licks and 
w'atercourses of the wilderness,” he sa’d ; “ but who that saw 
this spot could venture to say, that a mighty army was at rest 
among yonder silent trees and barren mountains ?” 

“ We are then at no great distance from William Henry ?” 
said Heyward, advancing nigher to the scout. 

“ It is yet a long and weary path, and when and where to 
strike it, is now our greatest difficulty. See,” he said, pointing 
through the trees towards a spot where a little basin of water 
reflected the stars from its placid bosom, “ here is the ‘ bloody 
pond and I am on ground that I have not only often travelled, 
but over which I have fou’t the enemy, from the rising to the 
setting sun.” 

“ Ha ! that sheet of dull and dreary water, then, is the se 
pulchre of the brave men who fell in the contest. I have hearc 
it named, but never have I stood on its banks before.” 

“ Three battles did we make with the Dutch-Frenchman"^' in 
a day,” continued Hawk eye, pursuing the train of his own 
thoughts, rather than replying to the remark of Duncan. “ He 

* Baron Dieskau, a German, in the service of France. A few' years previously 
to the period of the tale, this officer w'as defeated by Sir William Johnson (tf Johns- 
town, New' York, on the shores of Lake George. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


171 


met us hard by, in our outward march to ambush his advance, 
and scattered us, like driven deer, through the defile, to the 
shores of Horican. Then we rallied behind our fallen trees, and 
made head against him, under Sir William — who was made 
Sir William for that very deed ; and well did we pay him for 
the disgrace of the morning. Hundreds of Frenchmen saw the 
sun that day for the last time ; and even their leader, Dieskaii 
himself, fell into our hands, so cut and torn with the lead, that 
he has gone back to his own country, unfit for further acts in 
war.” 

“ ’Twas a noble repulse !” exclaimed Heyward, in the heat of 
his youthful ardor ; “ the fame of it reached us early, in our 
southern army.” 

“ Ay ! but it did not end there. I was sent by Major Effing- 
ham, at Sir William’s own bidding, to out-flank the French, and 
carry the tidings of their disaster across the portage, to the fort 
on the Hudson. Just hereaway, where you see the trees rise 
into a mountain swell, I met a party coming down to our aid, 
and I led them where the enemy were taking their meal, 
little dreaming that they had not finished the Moody work of 
the day.” 

“ And you surprised them ?” 

“If death can be a surprise to men who are thinking only of 
the cravings of their appetites. We gave them but little breath- 
ing time, for they had borne hard upon us in the fight of the 
morning, and there were few in our party who had not lost 
friend or relative by their hands. When all was over, the dead, 
and some say the dying, were cast into that little pond. These 
eyes have seen its waters colored with blood, as natural water 
never yet flowed from the bowels of the ’arth.” 

“ It was a convenient, and, I trust, will prove a peaceful grave 
for a soldier. You have, then, seen much service on this 
frontier ?” 

“ I !” said the scout, erecting his tall person with an air of 
military pride ; “ there are not many echoes among these hills 
that haven’t rung with the crack of my rifle, nor is there the 


172 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

space of a square mile atwixt Horican and the river, that ‘ Kill 
Deer ’ hasn’t dropped a living body on, be it an enemy or be it a 
brute beast. As for the grave there being as quiet as you men- 
tion, it is another matter. There are them in the camp who say 
and think, man, to lie still, should not be buried while the 
breath is in the body ; and certain it is that in the hurry of that 
evening, the doctors had but little time to say who was living 
and who was dead. Hist! see you nothing walking on the 
shore of the pond ? ” 

“ ’ Tis not probable that any are as houseless as ourselves, in 
this dreary forest.” 

“ Such as he may care but little for house or shelter, and 
night dew can never wet a body that passes its days in the 
water,” returned the scout, grasping the shoulder of Heyward 
with such convulsive strength as to make the young soldier pain- 
fully sensible how much superstitious terror had got the mastery 
of a man usually so dauntless. 

“ By heaven ! there is a human form, and it approaches I 
Stand to your arms, my friends ; for we know not whom we 
encounter.” 

“ Qui vive ?” demanded a stern, quick voice, which sounded 
like a challenge from another world, issuing out of that solitary 
and solemn place. 

“What says it?” whispered the scout; “it speaks neither 
Indian nor English I” 

“ Qui vive ?” repeated the same voice, which was quickly 
followed by the rattling of arms, and a menacing attitude. 

“ France!” cried Hey ward, advancing from the shadow of the 
trees to the shore of the pond, within a few yards of the 
sentinel. 

“D’ou venez-vous — ou allez-vous, d’aussi bonne heure?” 
demanded the grenadier, in the language and with the accent of 
a man from old France. 

“ Je viens de la d4‘Couverte, et je vais me coucher.” 

“ Etes-vous officier du roi ?” 

“ Sans doute, mon camarade ; me prends-tu pour un proviu 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. l73 

cial ! Je suis capitaine de -chasseurs (Heyward well knew that 
the other was of a regiment in the line)— j’ai ici, avec moi, les 
filles du commandant de la fortification. Aha ! tu en as entendu 
parler ! je les ai fait prisonnieres pres de I’autre fort, et je les 
conduis au general.” 

“ Ma foi ! mesdames ; j’en suis fache pour vous,” exclaimed 
the young soldier, touching his cap with grace ; “ mais — fortune 
de guerre ! vous trouverez notre general un brave bomme, et 
bien poli avec les dames.” 

“ C’est le caractere des gens de guerre,” said Cora, with admi- 
rable self-possession. “ Adieu, mon ami ; je vous souhaiterais 
un devoir plus agreable a remplir.” 

The soldier made a low and humble acknowledgment for her 
civility ; and Heyward adding a “ bonne nuit, mon camarade,” 
they moved deliberately forward, leaving the sentinel pacing the 
banks of the silent pond, little suspecting an enemy of so much 
effrontery, and humming to himself those words, which were 
recalled to his mind by the sight of women, and perhaps by 
recollections of his own distant and beautiful France — 

Vive le vin, vive I’amour” &c. &c. 

“ ’ Tis well you understood the knave !” whispered the scout 
when they had gained a little distance from the place, and 
letting his rifle fall into the hollow of his arm again ; “ I soon 
saw that he was one of them uneasy Frenchers ; and well for 
him it was that his speech was friendly and his wishes kind, or 
a place might have been found for his bones amongst those of 
his countrymen.” 

He was internipted by a long and heavy groan which arose 
from the little basin, as though, in truth, the spirits of the 
departed lingered about their watery sepulchre. 

“ Surely it was of flesh !” continued the scout ; “ no spirit 
could handle its arms so steadily !” 

“ It was of flesh ; but whether the poor fellow still belongs to 
this world may well be doubted,” said Heyward, glancing his 
eyes around him, and missing Chingachgook from their little 


174 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, 

band. Another groan more faint than the former, was 
succeeded by a heavy and sullen plunge into the water, and ail 
M^as as still again as if the borders of the dreary pool had never 
been awakened from the silence of creation. While they yet 
hesitated in uncertainty, the form of the Indian was seen gliding 
out of the thicket. As the chief rejoined them, with one hand 
he attached the reeking scalp of the unfortunate young French- 
man to his girdle, and with the other he replaced the knife and 
tomahawk that had drunk his blood. He then took his wonted 
station, with the air of a man who believed he had done a deed 
of merit. 

The scout dropped one end of his rifle to the earth, and 
leaning his hands on the other, he stood musing in profound 
silence. Then shaking his head in a mournful manner, he 
muttered — 

“ ’Twould have been a cruel and an unhuman act for a white- 
skin ; but ’tis the gift and natur’ of an Indian, and I suppose it 
should not be denied. I could wish, though, it had befallen an 
accursed Mingo, rather than that gay young boy from the old 
countries.” 

“ Enough !” said Heyward, apprehensive the unconscious 
sisters might comprehend the nature of the detention, and con- 
quering his disgust by a train of reflections very much like that 
of the hunter ; “ ’tis done ; and though better it were left 
undone, cannot be amended. You see we are, too obviously, 
within the sentinels of the enemy ; what course do you propose 
to follow ?” 

“Yes,” said Hawk-eye, rousing himself again, “’tis as you 
say, too late to harbor further thoughts about it. Ay, the 
French have gathered around the fort in good earnest, and we 
have a delicate needle to thread in passing them.” 

“ And but little time to do it in,” added Heyward, glancing 
his eyes upwards, towards the bank of vapor that concealed the 
setting moon. 

“And little time to do it in!” repeated the scout. “The 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


175 


thing may be done in two fashions, by the help of Providence, 
without which it may not be done at all.” 

“Name them quickly, for time presses.” 

“ One would be to dismount the gentle ones, and let their 
beasts range the plain ; by sending the Mohicans in front, we 
might then cut a lane through their sentries, and enter the fort 
over the dead bodies.” 

“ It will not do — it will not do !” interrupted the generous 
Heyward ; “ a soldier might force his way in this manner, but 
never with such a convoy.” 

“’T would be, indeed, a bloody path for such tender feet to 
wade in,” returned the equally reluctant scout ; “ but I thought 
it befitting my manhood to name it. We must then turn on 
our trail, and get without the line of their look-outs, when wo 
will bend short to the west, and enter the mountains ; where I 
can hide you, so that all the devil’s hounds in Montcalm’s pay 
would be thrown off the scent for months to come.” 

“ Let it be done, and that instantly.” 

Further words were unnecessary; for Hawk-eye, merely 
uttering the mandate to “ follow,” moved along the route by 
which they had just entered their present critical and even dan- 
gerous situation. Their progress, like their late dialogue, was 
guarded, and without noise ; for none knew at what moment a 
passing patrol, or a crouching jficket, of the enemy, might rise 
upon their path. As they held their silent way along the mar- 
gin of the pond, again Heyward 'and the scout stole furtive 
glances at its appalling dreariness. They looked in vain for the 
form they had so recently seen stalking along its silent shores, 
while a low and regular wash of the little waves, by announcing 
that the waters were not yet subsided, furnished a frightful 
memorial of the deed of blood they had just witnessed. Like 
all that passing and gloomy scene, the low basin, however, 
quickly melted in the darkness, and became blended with the 
mass of black objects, in the rear of the travellers. 

Hawk-eye soon deviated from the line of their retreat, and 
striking off towards the mountains which form the western 


176 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


boundary of the narrow plain, he led his followers, with swifl 
steps, deep within the shadows that were cast from theii* high 
and broken summits. The route was now painful ; lying over 
ground ragged with rocks, and intersected with ravines, and 
their progress proportionately slow. Bleak and black hills lay 
on every side of them, compensating in some degree for the 
additional toil of the march, by the sense of security they im- 
parted. At length the party began slowly to rise a steep and 
rugged ascent, by a path that curiously wound among rocks 
and trees, avoiding the one, and supported by the other, in a 
manner that showed it had been devised by men long 
practised in the arts of the wilderness. As they gradually rose 
from the level of the valleys, the thick darkness which usually 
precedes the approach of day began to disperse, and objects 
were seen in the plain and palpable colors with which they had 
been gifted by nature. When they issued from the stunted 
woods which clung to the barren sides of the mountain, upon 
a flat and mossy rock that formed its summit, they met the 
morning, as it came blushing above the green pines of a hill 
that lay on the opposite side of the valley of the Horican. 

The scout now told the sisters to dismount ; and taking the 
bridles from the mouths, and the saddles off the backs of the 
jaded beasts, he turned them loose, to glean a scanty subsistence 
among the shrubs and meagre herbage of that elevated region. 

“ Go,” he said, “ and seek your food where natur’ gives it you ; 
and beware that you become not food to ravenous wolves your- 
selves, among these hills.” 

“ Have we no further need of them ?” demanded Heyward. 

“ See, and judge with your own eyes,” said the scout, advanc- 
ing towards the eastern brow of the mountain, whither he 
beckoned for the whole party to follow : “if it was as easy to look 
into the heart of man as it is to spy out the nakedness of 
Montcalm’s camp from this spot, hypocrites would grow scarce, 
and the cunning of a Mingo might prove a losing game, com* 
pared to the honesty of a Delaware.” 

When the travellers reached the verge of the precipice, they 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 177 

saw, at a glance, the truth of the scout’s declaration, and the 
admirable foresight with which he had led them to their com- 
manding station. 

The mountain on which they stood, elevated, perhaps, a 
thousand feet in the air, was a high cone that rose a little in 
advance of that range which stretches for miles along the 
western shores of the lake, until meeting its sister piles, beyond 
the water, it ran off towards the Canadas, in confused and 
broken masses of rock thinly sprinkled with evergreens. 
Immediately at the feet of the party, the southern shore of the 
Horican swept in a broad semicircle, from mountain to moun- 
tain, marking a wide strand, that soon rose into an uneven and 
somewhat elevated plain. To the north, stretched the limpid, 
and, as it appeared from that dizzy height, the narrow sheet of 
the “ holy lake,” indented with numberless bays, embellished by 
fantastic headlands, and dotted with countless islands. At the 
distance of a few leagues, the bed of the waters became lost 
among mountains, or was wrapped in the masses of vapor that 
came slowly rolling along their bosom, before a light morning 
air. But a narrow opening between the crests of the hills 
pointed out the passage by which they found their way still 
further north, to spread their pure and ample sheets again, 
before pouring out their tribute into the distant Champlain. To 
the south stretched the defile, or rather broken plain, so often 
mentioned. For several miles in this direction, the mountains 
appeared reluctant to yield their dominion, but within reach of 
the eye they diverged, and finally melted into the level and 
sandy lands, across which we have accompanied our adventurers 
in their double journey. Along both ranges of hills, which 
bounded the opposite sides of the lake and valley, clouds of 
light vapor were rising in spiral wreaths from the uninhabited 
w'oods, looking like the smokes of hidden cottages ; or rolled 
lazily down the declivities, to mingle with the fogs of the lower 
land. A single, solitary, snow-white cloud floated above the 
valley, and marked the spot beneath which lay the silent pool 
of the “ bloody pond.” 


8 * 


178 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Directly on the shore of the lake, and nearer to its western 
than to its eastern margin, lay the extensive earthen ramparts 
and low buildings of William Henry. Two of the sweeping 
bastions appeared to rest on the water which washed their 
bases, while a deep ditch and extensive morasses guarded its 
other sides and angles. The land had been cleared of wood for 
a reasonable distance around the work, but every other part of 
tlie scene lay in the green livery of nature, except where the 
limpid water mellowed the view, or the bold rocks thrust their 
black and naked heads above the undulating outline of the 
mountain ranges. In its front might be seen the scattered 
sentinels, who held a weary watch against their numerous foes ; 
and within the walls themselves, the travellers looked down 
upon men still drowsy with a night of vigilance. Towards the 
southeast, but in immediate contact with the fort, was an 
entrenched camp, posted on a rocky eminence, that would have 
been far more eligible for the \\ork itself, in which Hawk-eye 
pointed out the presence of those auxiliary regiments that had so 
recently left the Hudson in their company. From the woods, a 
little further to the south, rose numerous dark and lurid smokes, 
that were easily to be distinguished from the purer exhalations 
of the s|)rings, and which the scout also showed to Heyward, as 
evidences that the enemy lay in force in that direction. 

But the spectacle which most concerned the young soldier 
was on the western bank of the lake, though quite near to its 
southern termination. On a stripe of land, which appeared, 
from his stand, too narrow to contain such an army, but which, 
in truth, extended many hundreds of yards from the shores of 
the Horican to the base of the mountain, were to be seen the 
white tents and military engines of an encampment of ten thou- 
sand men. Batteries were already thrown up in their front, and 
even while the spectators above them were looking down, with 
such different emotions, on a scene which lay like a map 
beneath their feet, the roar of artillery rose from the valley, and 
passed off in thundering echoes, along the eastern hills. 

“Morning is just ’touching them below,” said the deliberate 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 1^9 

and musing scout, “ and the watchers have a mind to wake up 
the sleepers by the sound of cannon. We are a few hours too 
late ! Montcalm has already filled the woods with his accursed 
Iroquois.” 

“ The place is, indeed, invested,” returned Duncan, “ but is 
there no expedient by which we may enter ? capture in the 
works would be far preferable to falling again into the hands of 
roving Indians.” 

“ See !” exclaimed the scout, unconsciously directing the 
attention of Cora to the quarters of her own father, “ how that 
shot has made the stones fly from the side of the commandant’s 
house ! Ay ! these Trenchers will pull it to pieces faster than 
it was put together, solid and thick though it be.” 

“ Heyward, I sicken at the sight of danger that I cannot 
share,” said the undaunted, but anxious daughter. “ Let us go 
to Montcalm, and demand admission : he dare not deny a child 
the boon.” 

“ You would scarce find the tent of the Frenchman with the 
hair on your head,” said the blunt scout. “ If I had but one of 
the thousand boats which lie empty along that shore, it might be 
done. Ha ! here will soon be an end of the firing, for yonder 
comes a fog that will turn day to night, and make an Indian 
arrow more dangerous than a moulded cannon. N’ow, if you 
are equal to the work, and will follow, I will make a push ; for 
I long to get down into that camp, if it be only to scatter 
some Mingo dogs that I see lurking in the skirts of yonder 
thicket of birch.” 

We are equal,” said Cora, firmly : “ on such an errand we 
will follow to any danger.” 

The scout turned to her with a smile of honest and cordial 
approbation, as he answered — 

“ I would I had a thousand men, of brawny limbs and quick 
eyes, that feared death as little as you ! I’d send them jabber- 
ing Frenchers back into their den again, afore the week was 
ended, howling like so many fettered hounds or hungry wolves. 
But stir,” he added, turning fr om her to the rest of the party, 


180 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ the fog comes rolling down so fast, we shall have but just the 
time to meet it on the plain, and use it as a cover. Remember, 
if any accident should befall me, to keep the air blowing on your 
left cheeks — or, rather, follow the Mohicans ; they’d scent their 
way, be it in day or be it at night.” 

He then waved his hand for them to follow, and threw him- 
self down the steep declivity, with free, but careful footsteps. 
Heyward assisted the sisters to descend, and in a few minutes 
they were all far down a mountain whose sides they had 
climbed with so much toil and pain. 

The direction taken by Hawk-eye soon brought the travellers 
to the level of the plain, nearly opposite to a sally-port in the 
western curtain of the fort, which lay, itself, at the distance of 
about half a mile from the point where he halted to allow 
Duncan to come up with his change. In their eagerness, and 
favored by the nature of the ground, they had anticipated the 
fog, which was rolling heavily down the lake, and it became 
necessary to pause, until the mists had wrapped the camp of the 
enemy in their fleecy mantle. The Mohicans profited by the 
delay, to steal out of the woods, and to make a survey of 
surrounding objects. They were followed at a little distance by 
the scout, with a view to profit early by their report, and to 
obtain some faint knowledge for himself of the more immediate 
localities. 

In a very few moments he returned, his face reddened with 
vexation, while he muttered his disappointment in words of no 
very gentle import. 

“Here has the cunning Frenchman been posting a picket 
directly in our path,” he said ; “ red-skins and whites ; and wo 
shall be as likely to fall into their midst as to pass them in the 
fog!” 

“Cannot we make a circuit to avoid the danger,” asked 
Heyward, “and come into our path again when it is 
passed ?” 

“ Who that once bends from the line of his march in a fog 
can tell when or how to turn to find it again I The mists of 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 181 

Horican are not like the curls from a peace-pipe, or the smoke 
which settles above a mosquito fire.” 

He was yet speaking, when a crashing sound was heard, and 
a cannon ball entered the thicket, striking the body of a sapling, 
and rebounding to the earth, its force being much expended by 
previous resistance. The Indians followed instantly like busy 
attendants on the terrible messenger, and Uncas commenced 
speaking earnestly, and with much action, in the Delaware 
tongue. 

“ It may be so, lad,” muttered the scout, when he had ended ; 
“for desperate fevers are not to be treated like a toothache. 
Come then, the fog is shutting in.” 

“ Stop !” cried Heyward ; “ first explain your expectations.” 

“ ’ Tis soon done, and a small hope it is ; but it is better than 
nothing. This shot that you see,” added the scout, kicking the 
harmless iron with his foot, “ has ploughed the ’arth in its road 
from the fort, and we shall hunt for the furrow it has made, 
when all other signs may fail. No more words, but follow, or 
the fog may leave us in the middle of our path, a mark for both 
armies to shoot at.” 

Heyward perceiving that, in fact, a crisis had arrived, when 
acts were more required than words, placed himself between the 
sisters, and drew them swiftly forward, keeping the dim figure 
of their leader in his eye. It was soon apparent that Hawk-eye 
had not magnified the power of the fog, for before they had 
proceeded twenty yards, it was difficult for the different indivi- 
duals of the party to distinguish each other, in the vapor. 

They had made their little circuit to the left, and were already 
inclining again towards the right, having, as Heyward thought, 
got over nearly half the distance to the friendly works, when his 
ears were saluted with the fierce summons, apparently within 
twenty feet of them, of — 

“Qui va la ?” 

“ Push on !” whispered the scout, once more bending to the 
left. 

“ Push on !” repeated Heyward ; when the summons was 


182 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


renewed by a dozen voices, each of which seemed charged with 
menace. 

“ C’est moi,” cried Duncan, dragging, rather than leading 
those he supported, swiftly onward. 

“ B^te ! — qui ? — moi !” 

“ Ami de la France.” 

“ Tu m’as plus I’air d’un mnemi de la France ; arr^te ! on 
pardieu je te ferai ami du diable. Non ! feu ; camarades ; 
feu !” 

The order was instantly obeyed, and the fog was stirred by 
the explosion of fifty muskets. Happily, the aim was bad, and 
the bullets cut the air in a direction a little different from that 
taken by the fugitives ; though still so nigh them, that to the 
unpractised ears of David and the two females, it appeared as if 
they whistled within a few inches of the organs. The outcry 
was renewed, and the order, not only to fire again, but to pur- 
sue, was too plainly audible. When Heyward briefly explained 
the meaning of the words they heard. Hawk-eye halted, and 
spoke with quick decision and great firmness. 

“ Let us deliver our fire,” he said ; “ they will believe it a 
sortie, and give way, or they will wait for reinforcements.” 

The scheme was well conceived, but failed in its effect. The 
instant the French heard the pieces, it seemed as if the plain was 
alive with men, muskets rattling along its whole extent, from the 
shores of the lake to the furthest boundary of the woods. 

“We shall draw their entire army upon us, and bring on a 
general assault,” said Duncan : “ lead on, my friend, for your 
own life, and ours.” 

The scout seemed willing to comply ; but, in the hurry of 
the moment, and in the change of position, he had lost the 
direction. In vain he turned either cheek towards the light air ; 
they felt equally cool. In this dilemma, Uncas lighted on the 
furrow of the cannon ball, where it had cut the ground in three 
adjacent ant-hills. 

“ Give me the range !” said Hawk-eye, bending to catch a 
glimpse of the direction, and then instantly moving onward. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


183 


Cries, oaths, voices calling to each other, and the reports of 
muskets, were now quick and incessant, and, apparently, on 
every side of them. Suddenly, a strong glare of light flaslied 
across the scene, the fog rolled upwards in thick wreaths, and 
several cannon belched across the plain, and the roar was thrown 
heavily back from the bellowing echoes of the mountain. 

“ ’Tis from the fort !” exclaimed Hawk-eye, turning short on 
his tracks ; “ and we, like stricken fools, were rushing to the 
woods, under the very knives of the Maquas.” 

The instant their mistake was rectified, the whole party 
retraced the error with the utmost diligence. Duncan willingly 
relinquished the support of Cora to the arm of Uncas, and Cora 
as readily accepted the welcome assistance. Men, hot and 
angry in pursuit, were evidently on their footsteps, and each 
instant threatened their capture, if not their destruction. 

“Point de quartier aux coquins!” cried an eager pursuer, 
who seemed to direct the operations of the enemy. 

“ Stand firm, and be ready, my gallant GOths I” suddenly 
exclaimed a voice above them ; “ wait to see the enemy ; fire low, 
and sweep the glacis.” 

“ Father ! Father 1” exclaimed a piercing cry from out the 
mist ; “ it is I! Alice ! thy own Elsie ! spare, oh ! save your 
daughters !” 

“ Hold !” shouted the former speaker, in the awful tones of 
parental agony, the sound reaching even to the woods, and 
rolling back in solemn echo. “ ’Tis she ! God has restored me 
my children ! Throw open the sally-port ; to the field, GOths, to 
the field ; pull not a trigger, lest ye kill my lambs ! Drive off 
these dogs of France with your steel.” 

Duncan heard the grating of the rusty hinges, and darting to 
the spot, directed by the sound, he met a long line of dark-red 
warriors, passing swiftly towards the glacis. He knew them for 
his own battalion of the royal Americans, and flying to their 
head, soon swept every trace of his pursuers from before the 
works. 

For an instant, Cora and Alice had stood trembling and 


184 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


bewildered by this unexpected desertion ; but, before either had 
leisure for speech, or even thought, an officer of gigantic frame, 
whose locks were bleached with years and service, but whose 
air of military grandeur had been rather softened than destroyed 
by time, rushed out of the body of the mist, and folded them to 
his bosom, while large scalding tears rolled down his pale and 
wrinkled cheeks, and he exclaimed, in the peculiar accent of 
Scotland — 

“ For this I thank thee. Lord ! Let danger come as it will, 
tliy servant is now prepared •” 


THE I, AST OF THE MOHICANS. 


185 


CHAPTER XV. 

Then go we in, to know his embassy ; 

Which I could, with ready guess, declare, 

Before the Frenchman speak a word of it. 

Kino Henry V. 

A FEW succeeding clays were passed amid the privations, the 
uproar, and the dangers of the siege, which was vigorously 
pressed by a power, against whose approaches Munro possessed 
no competent means of resistance. It appeared as if Webb, 
with liis army, which lay slumbering on the banks of the Hud- 
son, had utterly forgotten the strait to which his countrymen 
were reduced. Montcalm had filled the woods of the portage 
with his savages, every yell and whoop from whom rang through 
ihe British encampment, chilling the hearts of men who were 
already but too much disposed to magnify the danger. 

Not so, however, with the besieged. Animated by the words, 
and stimulated by the examples, of their leaders, they had found 
their courage, and maintained their ancient reputation, with a 
zeal that did justice to the stern character of their commander. 
As if satisfied with the toil of marching through the wilderness 
to encounter his enemy, the French general, though of approved 
skill, had neglected to seize the adjacent mountains ; whence the 
besieged might have been exterminated w'ith impunity, and 
which, in the more modern warfare of the country, would not 
have been neglected for a single hour. This sort of contempt 
for eminences, or rather dread of the labor of ascending them, 
mijrht have been termed the besetting weakness of the Avarfare 
of the period. It originated in the simplicity of the Indian 
contests, in which, from the nature of the combats, and the 
density of the forests, fortresses were rare, and artillery next to 
useless. The carelessness engendered by these usages descended 


180 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


even to the war of the revolution, and lost the states the 
important fortress of Ticonderoga, opening a way for the army 
of Burgoyne into what was then the bosom of the country. 
We look back at this ignorance, or infatuation, whichever it may 
lie called, with wonder, knowing that the neglect of an eminence, 
whose difficulties, like those of Mount Defiance, have been so 
greatly exaggerated, would, at the present time, prove fatal to 
the reputation of the engineer who had planned the works at 
their base, or to that of the general whose lot it was to defend 
them. 

The tourist, the valetudinarian, or the amateur of the beauties 
of nature, who, in the train of his four-in-hand, now rolls through 
the scenes we have attempted to describe, in quest of informa- 
tion, health, or. pleasure, or floats steadily towards his object on 
those artificial waters which have sprung up under the 
administration of a statesman ^ who has dared to stake his 
political character on the hazardous issue, is not to suppose that 
his ancestors traversed those hills, or struggled with the same 
currents with equal facility. The transportation of a single 
heavy gun was often considered equal to a victory gained ; if, 
happily, the difficulties of the passage had not so far separated 
it fi’om its necessary concomitant, the ammunition, as to render 
it no more than an useless tube of unwieldy iron. 

The evils of this state of things pressed heavily on the fortunes 
of the resolute Scotsman who now defended William Henry. 
Though his adversary neglected the hills, he had planted his 
batteries with judgment on the plain, and caused them to be 
served with vigor and skill. Against this assault, the besieged 
could only oppose the imperfect and hasty preparations of a 
fortress in the wilderness. 

It was in the afternoon of the fifth day of the siege, and the 
fourth of his own service in it, that Major Heyward profited by 
a parley that had just been beaten, byrepairing to the ramparts 
of one of the water bastions, to breathe the cool air from the 
lake, and to take a survey of the progress of the siege. He was 
* fivldonlly the late De Witt Clinton, who died governor of New York, In 1828 


THE lAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


187 


alone, if the solitary sentinel who paced the mound be excepted ; 
for the artillerists had hastened also to profit by the temporary 
suspension of their arduous duties. The evening was delight- 
fully calm, and the light air from the limpid water fresh and 
soothing. It seemed as if, with the termination to the roar of 
artillery and the plunging of shot, nature had also seized the 
moment to assume her mildest and most captivating form. The 
sun poured down his parting glory on the scene, without the 
oppression of those fierce rays that belong to the climate and 
the season. The mountains looked green, and fresh, and lovely ; 
tempered with the milder light, or softened in shadow, as thin 
vapors floated between them and the sun. The numerous 
islands rested on the bosom of the Horican, some low and 
sunken, as if imbedded in the waters, and others appearing to 
hover above the element, in little hillocks of green velvet ; 
among which the fishermen of the beleaguering army peacefully 
rowed their skiffs, or floated at rest on the glassy mirror, in quiet 
pursuit of their employment. 

The scene was at once animated and still. All that pertained 
to nature was sweet, or simply grand ; while those parts which 
depended on the temper and movements of man were lively and 
playful. 

Two little spotless flags were abroad, the one on a salient 
angle of the fort, and the other on the advanced battery of the 
besiegers ; emblems of the truce which existed, not only to the 
acts, but it would seem, also, to the enmity of the combatants. 

Behind these, again, swung, heavily opening and closing in 
silken folds, the rival standards of England and France. 

A hundred gay and thoughtless young Frenchmen were 
drawing a net to the pebbly beach, within dangerous proximity 
to the sullen but silent cannon of the fort, while the eastern 
mountain was sending back the loud shouts and gay merriment 
that attended their sport. Some were rushing eagerly to enjoy 
the aquatic games of the lake, and others wei’e already toiling 
their way up the neighboring hills, with the restless curiosity of 
their nation. To all these sports and pursuits, those of the 


188 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


enemy who watched the besieged, and the besieged themselves, 
were, however, merely the idle, though sympathizing spectators. 
Here and there a picket had, indeed, raised a song, or mingled 
in a dance, which had drawn the dusky savages around 
them, from their lairs in the forest. In short, everything wore 
rather the appearance of a day of pleasure, than of an hour 
stolen from the dangers and toil of a bloody and vindictive 
warlare. 

Duncan had stood in a musing attitude, contemplating this 
scene a few minutes, when his eyes were directed to the glacis 
in front of the sally-port already mentioned, by the sounds of 
approaching footsteps. He walked to an angle of the bastion, 
and beheld the scout advancing, under the custody of a French 
officer, to the body of the fort. The countenance of Hawk-eye 
was haggard and careworn, and his air dejected,- as though he 
felt the deepest degradation at having fallen into the power of 
his enemies. He was without his favorite weapon, and his arms 
w'ere even bound behind him with thongs, made of the skin of 
a deer. The arrival of flags, to cover the messengers of sum- 
mons, had occurred so often of late, that when Heyward first 
threw his careless glance on this group, he expected to see ano- 
ther of the officers of the enemy, charged with a similar office ; 
but the instant he recognised the tall person, and still sturdy, 
though downcast, features of his friend, the woodsman, he 
started with surprise, and turned to descend from the bastion 

into the bosom of the work. 

\ 

The sounds of other voices, however, caught his attention, 
and for a moment caused him to forget his purpose. At the 
inner angle of the mound he met the sisters, walking along the 
parapet, in search, like himself, of air and relief from confine- 
ment. They had not met since that painful moment when he 
deserted them on the plain, only to assure their safety. He 
had parted from them worn with care, and jaded with fatigue ; 
he now saw them refreshed and blooming, though timid and 
anxious. Under such an inducement, it will cause no surprise 
that the young man lost sight, for a time, of other objects in or- 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


189 


der to address them. He was, however, anticipated by the 
voice of the ingenuous and youthful Alice. 

“ Ah ! thou truant ! thou recreant knight ! he who abandons 
his damsels in the very lists !” she cried ; “ here have we been 
days, nay, ages, expecting you at our feet, imploring mercy and 
forgetfulness of your craven backsliding, or, I should rather 
say, back-running — for verily you fled in a manner that no 
stricken deer, as our worthy friend the scout would say, could 
equal !” 

“ You know that Alice means our thanks and our blessings,” 
added the graver and more thoughtful Cora. “ In truth, we 
have a little wondered why you should so rigidly absent your- 
self from a place where the gratitude of the daughters might 
receive the support of a parent’s thanks. 

‘‘ Your father himself could tell you, that though absent from 
your presence, I have not been altogether forgetful of your 
safety,” returned the young man ; “ the mastery of yonder vil- 
lage of huts,” pointing to the neighboring entrenched camp, 
“ has been keenly disputed ; and he who holds it is sure to be 
possessed of this fort, and that which it contains. My days and 
my nights have all been passed there since we separated, be- 
cause I thought that duty called me thither. But,” he added 
with an air of chagrin, which he endeavored, though unsuc- 
cessfully, to conceal, “ had I been aware that what I then be- 
lieved a soldier’s conduct could be so construed, shame would 
have been added to the list of reasons.” 

“ Heyward ! — Duncan !” exclaimed Alice, bending forward to 
read his half-averted countenance, until a lock of her golden 
hair rested on her flushed cheek, and nearly concealed the tear 
that had started to her eye ; “ did I think this idle tongue of 
mine had pained you, I would silence it for ever. Cora can 
say, if Cora would, how justly we have prized your services, 
and how deep — I had almost said, how fervent — is our gra- 
titude.” 

“ And will Cora attest the truth of this ?” cried Duncan, 
suffering the cloud to be chased from his countenance by a 


190 T H E L A S T O F T H E MOHICANS. 

smile of open pleasure. “ What says our graver sister ? W^ill 
she find an excuse for the neglect of the knight in the duty of a 
soldier ?” 

Cora made no immediate answer, but turned her face towards 
the water, as if looking on the sheet of the Horican. When 
she did bend her dark eyes on the young man, they were yet 
filled with an expression of anguish that at once drove every 
thought but that of kind solicitude from his mind. 

“ You are not well, dearest Miss Munro !” lie exclaimed ; “ we 
have trifled while you are in suffering.” 

“’Tis nothing,” she answered, refusing his offered support 
with feminine reserve. “That I cannot see the sunny side of 
the picture of life, like this artless but ardent enthusiast,” she 
added, laying her hand lightly, but affectionately, on the arm 
of her sister, “ is the penalty of experience, and, perhaps, the 
misfortune of ray nature. See,” she continued, as if determined 
to shake off’ infirmity, in a sense of duty ; “ look around you. 
Major Heyward, and tell me what a prospect is this for the 
daughter of a soldier whose greatest happiness is his honor 
and his military renown.” 

“ Neither ought nor shall be tarnished by circumstances over 
which- he has had no control,” Duncan warmly replied. “ But 
your words recall me to my own duty. I go now to your gal- 
lant father, to hear his determination in matters'of the last mo- 
ment to the defence. God bless you in every fortune, noble — 
Cora — I may, and must call you.” She frankly gave him her 
hand, though her lip quivered, and her cheeks gradually be- 
came of an ashy paleness. “ In every fortune, I know you will 
be an ornament and honor to your sex. Alice, adieu” — his tone 
changed from admiration to tenderness — “adieu, Alice; we shall 
soon meet again ; as conquerors, I trust, and amid rejoicings !” 

Without Avaiting for an answer from either, the young man 
threw himself dowm the grassy steps of the bastion, and moving 
rapidly across the parade, he was quickly in the presence of 
their father. Munro was pacing his narrow apartment with a 
disturbed air and gigantic strides as Duncan entered. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


191 


“You have anticipated my wishes, Major Heyward,” he said; 
“ I was about to request this favor.” 

“ I am sorry to see, sir, that the messenger I so warmly re- 
commended has returned in custody of the French ! I hope 
tljere is no reason to distrust his fidelity ?” 

“ The fidelity of ‘ The Long Rifle ’ is w^ell known to me,” re- 
turned Munro, “and is above suspicion ; though his usual good 
fortune seems, at last, to have failed. Montcalm has got him, 
and with the accursed politeness of his nation, he has sent him 
in with a doleful tale, of ‘ knowing how I valued the fellow, he 
could not think of retaining him.’ A Jesuitical way, that. Ma- 
jor Duncan Heyward, of telling a man of his misfortunes !” 

“ But the general and his succor ? — ” 

“ Did ye look to the south as ye entered, and could ye not 
see them?” said the old soldier, laughing bitterly. “Hoot! 
hoot I you’re an impatient boy, sir, and cannot give the gentle- 
men leisure for their march 1” 

“ They are coming then ? The scout has said as much ?” 

“ When ? and by what path ? for the dunce has omitted to 
tell me this. There is a letter, it would seem, too ; and that is 
the only agreeable part of the matter. For the customary at- 
tentions of your Marquis of Montcalm — I warrant me, Duncan, 
that he of Lothian would buy a dozen such marquisates — but, 
if the news of the letter were bad, the gentility of this French 
monsieur w'ould certainly compel him to let us know it.” 

“He keeps the letter, then, while he releases the messen- 
ger ?” 

“ Ay, that does he, and all for the sake of what you call your 
‘bonhommie.’ I would venture, if the truth was known, the 
fellow’s grandfather taught the noble science of dancing.” 

“But what says the scout? he has eyes and ears, and a 
tongue : what verbal report does he make ?” 

“ Oh ! sir, he is not wanting in natural organs, and he is free 
to tell all that he has seen and heard. The whole amount is 
this ; there is a fort of his majesty’s on the banks ot the Hud- 
son, called Edward, in honor of his gracious highness of York, 


192 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

you’ll know ; and it is well filled with armed men, as such a 
work should be.” 

“But was there no movement, no signs of any intention to 
advance to our relief?” 

“There were the morning and evening parades; and when 
one of the provincial loons — you’ll know, Duncan, you’re half a 
Scotsman yourself — when one of them dropped his powder over 
his porretch, if it touched the coals, it just burnt !” Then sud- 
denly changing his bitter, ironical manner, to one more grave 
and thoughtful, he continued ; “ and yet there might, and must 
be, something in that letter which it would be well to know !” 

“ Our decision should be speedy,” said Duncan, gladly avail- 
ing himself of this change of humor, to press the more import- 
ant objects of their interview ; “ I cannot conceal from you, sir, 
that the camp will not be much longer tenable.; and I am sorry 
to add, that things appear no better in the fort; — more than 
half the guns are bursted.” 

“ And how should it be otherwise ? Some were fished from 
the bottom of the lake ; some have been rusting in the woods 
since the discovery of the country ; and some were never guns 
at all — mere privateersmen’s playthings ! Do you think, sir, 
you can have Woolwich Warren in the midst of a wilderness, 
three thousand miles from Great Britain ?” 

“The walls are crumblmg about our ears, and provisions 
begin to fail us,” continued Heyward, without regarding this 
new burst of indignation ; “ even the men show signs of discon- 
tent and alarm.” 

“ Major Heyward,” said Munro, turning to his youthful asso- 
ciate with the dignity of his years and superior rank ; “ I should 
have served his majesty for half a century, and earned these 
grey hairs, in vain, were I ignorant of all you say, and of the 
pressing nature of our circumstances ; still, there is everything 
due to the honor of the king’s arms and something to ourselves. 
While there is hope of succor, this fortress will I defend, though 
it be to be done with pebbles gathered on the lake shore. It 
is a sight of the letter, therefore, that we want, that we may 


THE L A S r OF THE MOHICANS. 


193 


know tlie intentions of the man the Earl of Loudon has left 
among us as his substitute ?” 

“ And can I be of service in the matter ?” 

“ Sir, you can ; the Marquis of Montcalm has, in addition to 
his other civilities, invited me to a personal interview between 
the works and his own camp ; in order, as he says, to impart 
some additional information. Now, I think it would not be 
wise to show any undue solicimde to meet him, and I would 
employ you, an officer of rank, as my substitute ; for it would 
but ill comport with the honor of Scotland to let it be said one 
of her gentlemen, was outdone in civility by a native of any other 
country on earth.” 

Without assuming the supererogatory task of entering into a 
discussi<|in of the comparative merits of national courtesy, Dun- 
can cheerfully assented to supply the place of the veteran in the 
approaching interview. A long and confidential communica- 
tion now succeeded, during which the young man received some 
additional insight into his duty, from the experience and native 
acuteness of his commander, and then the former took his leave. 

As Duncan could only act as the representative of the com- 
mandant of the fort, the ceremonies which should have accom- 
panied a meeting between the heads of the adverse forces were 
- of course dispensed with. The truce still existed, and with a 
roll and beat of the drum, and covered by a little white flag, 
Duncan left the sally-port, within ten minutes after his instruc- 
tions were ended. He was received by the French officer in' 
advance with the usual formalities, and immediately accompa- 
nied to a distant marquee of the renowned soldier who led the 
forces of France. 

The general of the enemy received the youthful messenger, 
surrounded by his principal officers, and by a swarthy band of 
the native chiefs, who had followed him to the field, with the 
warriors of their several tribes. Heyward paused short, when, 
in glancing his eyes rapidly over the dark group of the latter, 
he beheld the malignant countenance of Magua, regarding him 
with the calm but sullen attention which marked the expression 

9 


104 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


of that subtle savage. A slight exclamation of surprise even 
burst from the lips of the young man ; but, instantly recollect- 
ing his errand, and the presence in which he stood, he suppi’ess- 
ed every appearance of emotion, and turned to the hostile leader, 
who had already advanced a step to receive him. 

The Marquis of Montcalm was, at the period of which we 
write, in the flower of his age, and, it may be added, in the 
zenith of his fortunes. But, even in that enviable situation, he 
was affable, and distinguished as much for his attention to the 
forms of courtesy, as for that chivalrous courage which, only 
two short years afterwards, induced him to throw away his life 
on the plains of Abraham. Duncan, in turning his eyes from 
the malign expression of Magna, suffered them to rest with 
pleasure on the smiling and polished features, and the noble 
military air, of the French general. 

“Monsieur,” said the latter, “j’ai beaucoup de plaisiril — bah! 
— oh est cet interprete ?” 

“ Je crois, monsieur, qu’il ne sera pas necessaire,” Heyward 
modestly replied; “je parle un pen Franqais.” 

“Ah! j’en suis bien aise,” said Montcalm, taking Duncan 
familiarly by the arm, and leading him deep into the marquee, a 
little out of ear-shot; “je deteste ces fripons-la; on ne sait jamais 
sur quel pi6 on est avec eux. Eh, bien ! monsieur,” he con- 
tinued, still speaking in French; “ though I should have been 
proud of receiving your commandant, I am very happy that 
he has seen proper to employ an officer so distinguished, and 
who, I am sure, is so amiable, as yourself.” 

Duncan bowed low, pleased with the compliment, in sjnte of 
a most heroic determination to suffer no artifice to allure him 
into forgetfulness of the interest of his prince ; and Montcalm, 
after a pause of a moment, as if to collect his thoughts, pro- 
ceeded — 

“Your commandant is a brave man, and well qualified to re- 
pel my assault. Mais, monsieur, is it not time to begin to take 
more counsel of humanity, and less of your courage ? The one 
as strongly characterizes the hero as the other.” 


THE LAST OF THE xM OHIOANS. 


196 


“We consider the qualities as inseparable,” returned Duncan, 
smiling ; “ but while we find in the vigor of your excellency 
every motive to stimulate the one, we can, as yet, see no parti- 
cular call for the exercise of the other.” 

Montcalm, in his turn, slightly bowed, but it was with the 
air of a man too practised to remember the language of flattery. 
After musing a moment, he added — 

“ It is possible my glasses have deceived me, and that your 
works resist our cannon better than I had supposed. You 
know our force ?” 

“ Our accounts vary,” said Duncan, carelessly ; “ the highest, 
however, has not exceeded twenty thousand men.” 

The Frenchman bit his lip, and fastened his eyes keenly on 
the other as if to read his thoughts ; then, with a readiness 
peculiar to himself, he continued, as if assenting to the truth of 
an enumeration which quite doubled his army : — 

“ It is a poor compliment to the vigilance of us soldiers, 
monsieur, that, do what we will, we never can conceal our 
numbers. If it were to be done at all, one would believe it 
might succeed in these woods. Though you think it too soon 
to listen to the calls of humanity,” he added, smiling archly, 
“ I may be permitted to believe that gallantry is not forgotten 
by one so young as yourself. The daughters of the com- 
mandant, I learn, have passed into the fort since it was in- 
vested ?” 

“ It is true, monsieur ; but, so far from weakening our efforts, 
they set us an example of courage in their own fortitude. 
Were nothing but resolution necessary to repel so accom- 
plished a soldier as M. de Montcalm, I would gladly trust the 
defence of William Henry to the elder of those ladies.” 

“We have a wise ordinance in our Salique laws, which says, 
Mhe crown of France shall never degrade the lance to the dis- 
taff,’ ” said Montcalm, drily, and with a little hauteur ; but in- 
stantly adding, with his former frank and easy air, “ as all the 
nobler qualities are hereditary, I can easil}' credit you ; though, 
as I said before, courage has its limits, and humanity must not 


196 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


be forgotten. I trust, monsieur, you come authorized to treat 
for the surrender of the jDlace ?” 

“ Has your excellency found our defence so feeble as to 
believe the measure necessary ?” 

“ I should be sorry to have the defence protracted in such a 
manner as to irritate my red friends there,” continued Montcalm, 
glancing his eyes at the group of grave and attentive Indians, 
without attending to the other’s question ; “ I find it difficult, 
even now, to limit them to the usages of war.” 

Heyward was silent ; for a painful recollection of the dangers 
he had so recently escaped came over his mind, and recalled 
the images of those defenceless beings who had shared in all 
his sufferings. 

“ Ces messieurs-la,” said Montcalm, following up the advan- 
tage which he conceived he had gained, “ are most formidable 
when baffled : and it is unnecessary to tell you with what dif- 
ficulty they are restrained in their anger. Eh bien, monsieur ! 
shall we speak of the terms ?” 

“ I fear your excellency has been deceived as to the strength 
of William Henry, and the resources of its garrison !” 

“ I have not sat down before Quebec, but an earthen w'ork, 
that is defended by twenty-three hundred gallant men,” was the 
laconic reply. 

“ Our mounds are earthen, certainly — nor are they seated 
on the rocks of Cape Diamond ; — but they stand on that shore 
which proved so destructive to Dieskau and his army. There 
is also a powerful force within a few hours’ march of us, which 
we account upon as part of our means.” 

“ Some six or eight thousand men,” returned Montcalm, with 
much apparent indifference, “ whom their leader wisely judges 
to be safer in their works than in the field.” 

It w^as now Heyward’s turn to bite his lip with vexation, as 
the other so coolly alluded to a force which the young man 
knew to be overrated. Both mused a little while in silence, 
when Montcalm renewed the conversation, in a way that showed 
he believed the visit of his guest was solely to propose terms^ of 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


197 


capitulation. On the other hand, Heyward began to throw 
sundry inducements in the way of the French general, to be- 
tray the discoveries he had made through the intercepted letter. 
The artifice of neither, however, succeeded; and after a pro- 
tracted and fruitless interview, Duncan took his leave, favorably 
impressed with an opinion of the courtesy and talents of the 
enemy’s captain, but as ignorant of what he came to learn as 
when he arrived. Montcalm followed him as far as the en- 
trance of the marquee, renewing his invitations to the com- 
mandant of the fort to give him an immediate meeting in the 
open ground, betw^een the two armies. 

There they separated, and Duncan returned to the advanced 
post of the French, accompanied as before ; whence he instantly 
proceeded to the fort, and to the quarters of his own com- 
mander. 


198 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


Edg.— Before you fight the battle, ope this letter. 

Lear. 


Major Heyward found Munro attended only by his 
daughters. Alice sate upon his knee, parting the grey hairs 
on the forehead of the old man with her delicate fingers ; and, 
whenever he affected to frown on her trifling, appeasing his 
assumed anger by pressing her ruby lips fondly on his wrinkled 
brow. Cora was seated nigh them, a calm and amused looker- 
on ; regarding the wayward movements of her more youthful 
sister, with that species of itiaternal fondness which characterized 
her love for Alice. Not only the dangers through which they 
had passed, but those which still impended above them, ap- 
peared to be momentarily forgotten, in the soothing indulgence 
of such a family meeting. It seemed as if they had profited by 
the short truce, to devote an instant to the purest and best 
affections : the daughters forgetting their fears, and the veteran 
his cares, in the security of the moment. Of this scene, Dun- 
can, who in his eagerness to report his arrival had entered un- 
announced, stood many moments an unobserved and a delighted 
spectator. But the quick and dancing eyes of Alice soon 
caught a glimpse of his figure reflected from a glass, and she 
sprang blushing from her father’s knee, exclaiming aloud, — 

“ Major Heyward !” 

“ What of the lad ?” demanded her father ; “ I have sent him 
to crack a little with the Frenchman. Ha ! sir, you are young, 
and you’re nimble ! Away with you, ye baggage ; as if there 
were not troubles enough for a soldier, without having his camp 
filled with such prattling hussies as yourself !” 

Alice laughingly followed her sister, who instantly led the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 199 

way from an apartment where she perceived their presence was 
no longer desirable. Munro, instead of demanding the result 
of the young man’s mission, paced the room for a few moments, 
with his hands behind his back, and his head inclined towards 
the floor, like a man lost in thought. At length he raised his 
eyes, glistening with a father’s fondness, and exclaimed — 

“ They are a pair of excellent girls, Heyward, and such as 
any one may boast of.” 

“ You are not now to learn my opinion of your daughters, 
Colonel Munro.” 

“ True, lad, true,” interrupted the impatient old man ; “ you 
were about opening your mind more fully on that matter the 
day you got in ; but I did not think it becoming in an old sol- 
dier to be talking of nuptial blessings and wedding jokes when 
the enemies of his king were likely to be unbidden guests at the 
feast ! But I was wrong, Duncan, boy, I was wrong there ; and 
I am now ready to hear what you have to say.” 

“ Notwithstanding the pleasure your assurance gives me, dear 
sir, I have, just now, a message from Montcalm — 

“ Let the Frenchman ^and all his host go to the devil, sir !” 
exclaimed the hasty veteran. “ He is not yet master of William 
Henry, nor shall he ever be^ provided Webb proves himself the 
man he should. No, sir ! thank heaven, we are not yet in such 
a strait that it can be said Munro is too much pressed to dis- 
charge the little domestic duties of his own family. Your mo- 
ther was the only child of my bosom friend, Duncan ; and I’ll 
just give you a hearing, though all the knights of St. Louis 
were in a body at the sally-port, with the French saint at their 
head, craving to speak a word under favor. A pretty degree of 
knighthood, sir, is that which can be bought with sugar-hogs- 
heads ! and then your two-penny marquisates ! The thistle is 
the order for dignity and antiquity ; the veritable ‘ nemo me 
impune lacessit’ of chivalry ! Ye had ancestors in that degree, 
Duncan, and they were an ornament to the nobles of Scot- 
land.” 

Heyward, who perceived that his superior took a malicioiLS 


200 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


pleasure in exhibiting his contempt for the message of the 
French general, was fain to humor a spleen that he knew would 
be short-lived ; he, therefore, replied with as much indifference 
as he could assume on such a subject — 

“ My request, as you know, sir, went so far as to presume to 
the honor of being your son.” 

“ Ay, boy, you found words to make yourself very plainly 
comprehended. But, let me ask ye, sir, have you been as in- 
telligible to the girl ?” 

“ On my honor, no,” exclaimed Duncan, warmly ; “ there 
would have been an abuse of a confided trust, had I taken ad- 
vantage of my situation for such a purpose.” 

“ Your notions are those of a gentleman. Major Heyward, 
and well enough in their place. But Cora Munro is a maiden 
too discreet, and of a mind too elevated and improved, to need 
the guardianship even of a father.” 

“ Cora !” 

“ Ay — Cora ! we are talking of your pretensions to Miss 
Munro, are we not, sir ?” 

“ I — I — I was not conscious of having mentioned her name,” 
said Duncan, stammering. 

“ And, to marry whom, then, did you wish my consent. Major 
Heyward ?” demanded the old soldier, erecting himself in the 
dignity of offended feeling. 

“ You have another, and not less lovely child.” 

“ Alice !” exclaimed the father, in an astonishment equal to 
that with which Duncan had just repeated the name of her sister. 

“ Such was the direction of my wishes, sir.” 

The young man awaited in silence the result of the extraor- 
dinary effect produced by a communication which, as it now 
appeared, was so unexpected. For several minutes Munro 
paced the chamber with long and rapid strides, his rigid fea- 
tures working convulsively, and every faculty seemingly ab- 
sorbed in the musings of his own mind. At length, he paused 
directly in front of Heyward, and riveting his eyes upon those 
of the other, he said, with a lip that quivered violently, — 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


201 


“ Duncan Heyward, I have loved you for the sake of him 
whose blood is in your veins ; I have loved you for your own 
good qualities ; and I have loved you, because I thought you 
would contribute to the happiness of ray child. But all this 
love would turn to hatred, were I assured that what I so much 
apprehend is true.” 

“ God forbid that any act or thought of mine should lead 
to such a change !” exclaimed the young man, whose eye 
never quailed under the penetrating look it encountered. 
Without adverting to the impossibility of the other’s compre- 
hending those feelings which were hid in his own bosom, Munro 
suffered himself to be appeased by the unaltered countenance 
he met, and with a voice sensibly softened, he continued — 

“ You would be my son, Duncan, and you’re ignorant of the 
history, of the man you wish to call your father. Sit ye down, 
young man, and I will open to you the wounds of a seared 
heart, in as few words as may be suitable.” 

By this time, the message of Montcalm was as much forgot- 
ten by him who bore it as by the man for whose ears it was 
intended. Each drew a chair, and while the veteran communed 
a few moments with his own thoughts, apparently in sadness, 
the youth suppressed his impatience in a look and attitude of 
respectful attention. At length the former spoke — 

“ You’ll know, already. Major Heyward, that my family was 
both ancient and honorable,” commenced the Scotsman ; 
“ though it might not altogether be endowed with that amount 
of wealth that should correspond with its degree. I was, may 
be, such an one as yourself when I plighted my faith to Alice 
Graham : the only child of a neighboring laird of some estate. 
But the connexion was disagreeable to her father, on more ac- 
counts than my poverty. I did therefore what an honest man 
should — restored the maiden her troth, and departed the coun- 
try in the service of my king. I had seen many regions, and 
had shed much blood in different lands, before duty called me 
to the islands of the West Indies. There it was my lot to form a 
connexion with one who in time became my wife, and the mother 

9 * 


202 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


of Cora. She was the daughter of a gentleman of those isles, by 
a lady whose misfortune it was, if you will,” said the old man, 
proudly, “ to be descended, remotely, from that unfortunate class 
who are so basely enslaved to administer to the wants of a luxu- 
rious people. Ay, sir, that is a curse entailed on Scotland by her 
unnatural union with a foreign and trading people. But could 
I find a man among them who would dare to reflect on my 
child, he should feel the weight of a father’s anger! Ha! 
Major Heyward, you are yourself born at the south, where 
these unfortunate beings are considered of a race inferior to 
your own.” 

“ ’Tis most unfortunately true, sir,” said Duncan, unable any 
longer to prevent his eyes from sinking to the floor in embar- 
rassment. 

“ And you cast it on my child as a reproach ! You scorn to 
mingle the blood of the Heywards with one so degraded — love- 
1}^ and virtuous though she be ?” fiercely demanded the jealous 
parent. 

“Heaven protect me from a prejudice so unworthy of my 
reason !” returned Duncan, at the same time conscious of such 
a feeling, and that as deeply rooted as if it had been ingrafted 
in his nature. “ The sweetness, the beauty, the witchery of 
your younger daughter. Colonel Munro, might explain my mo- 
tives, without imputing to me this injustice.” 

“Ye are right, sir,” returned the old man, again changing 
his tones to those of gentleness, or rather softness ; “ the girl 
is the image of what her mother was at her years, and 
before she had become acquainted with grief. When death 
deprived me of my wife I returned to Scotland, enriched by the 
marriage ; and would you think it, Duncan ! the sufiering angel 
had remained in the heartless state of celibacy twenty long 
years, and that for the sake of a man who could forget her! 
She did more, sir ; she overlooked my want of faith, and all 
difficulties being now removed, she took me for her husband.” 

“ And became the mother of Alice ?” exclaimed Duncan, with 
an eagerness that might have proved dangerous at a moment 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 203 

when the thoughts of Munro were less occupied than at pre- 
.sent. 

“She did, indeed,” said the old man, “and dearly did she 
pay for the blessing she bestowed. But she is a saint in heaven, 
sir; and it ill becomes one whose foot rests on the grave to 
mourn a lot so blessed. I had her but a single year, though ; 
a short term of happiness for one who had seen her youth fade 
in hopeless pining.” 

There was something so commanding in the distress of the 
old man, that Heyward did not dare to venture a syllable of 
consolation. Munro sat utterly unconscious of the other’s pre- 
sence, his features exposed and working with the anguish of 
his regrets, while heavy tears fell from his eyes, and rolled un- 
heeded from his cheeks to the floor. At length he moved, as if 
suddenly recovering his recollection ; when he arose, and taking 
a single turn across the room, he approached his companion 
with an air of military grandeur, and demanded — 

“ Have you not, Major Heyward, some communication that 
I should hear from the Marquis de Montcalm ?” 

Duncan started, in his turn, and immediately commenced, in 
an embarrassed voice, the half-forgotten message. It is unne- 
cessary to dwell upon the evasive, though polite manner, with 
which the French general had eluded every attempt of Hey- 
ward to worm from him the purport of the communication he 
had proposed making, or on the decided, though still polished 
message, by which he now gave his enemy to understand, that 
unless he chose to receive it in person, he should not receive it 
at all. As Munro listened to the detail of Duncan, the excited 
feelings of the father gradually gave way before the obligations 
of his station, and when the other was done, he saw before him 
nothing but the veteran, swelling with the wounded feelings of 
a soldier. 

“You have said enough, Major Heyward!” exclaimed the 
angry old man ; “ enough to make a volume of commentary on 
French civility. Here has this gentleman invited me to a con- 
ference, and when I send him a capable substitute, for ye’re all 


204 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

tliat, Duncan, tliongli your years are but few, be answeis me 
with a riddle.” 

“ lie may have tliought less favorably of the substitute, my 
dear sir ; and you will remember that the invitation, which he 
now repeats, was to the commandant of the works, and not to 
his second.” 

“Well, sir, is not a substitute clothed with all the power and 
dignity of him who grants the commissic i ? He wishes to con- 
fer with Munro ! Faith, sir, I have much inclination to indulge 
the man, if it should only be to let him behold the firm 
countenance we maintain in spite of his numbers and his 
summons. There might be no bad policy in such a stroke, 
young man.” 

Duncan, who believed it of the last importance that they 
should speedily come at the contents of the letter borne by the 
scout, gladly encouraged this idea. 

“ Without doubt, he could gather no confidence by witness- 
ing our indifierence,” he said. 

“You never said truer word. I could wish, sir, that ho 
would visit the works in open day, and in the form of a storm- 
ing party : that is the least failing method of proving the coun- 
tenance of an enemy, and would be far preferable to the batter- 
ing system he has chosen. The beauty and manliness of war- 
fare has been much deformed. Major Heyward, by the arts of 
your Monsieur Vauban. Our ancestors were far above such 
scientific cowardice 1” 

“ It may be very true, sir ; but we are now obliged to repel 
art by art. What is your pleasure in the matter of the inter- 
view ?” 

“I will meet the Frenchman, and that without fear or delay; 
promptly, sir, as becomes a servant of my royal master. Cro, 
Major Heyward, and give them a flourish of the music ; and 
send out a messenger to let them know who is coming. We 
will follow with a small guard, for such respect is due to one 
who holds the honor of his king in keeping ; and hark’ee, Dun- 
can,” ho added, in a half whisper, though they were alone, “ it 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


205 


may be prudent to have some aid at hand, in case there should 
be treachery at the bottom of it all.” 

The young man availed himself of this order to quit the 
npartment; and, as the day was fast coming to a close, he 
hastened, without delay, to make the necessary arrangements. 
A very few minutes only were necessary to parade a few files, 
and to despatch an orderly with a flag to announce the ap- 
proach of the commandant of the fort. When Duncan had 
done both these he led the guard to the sally-port, near which 
he found his superior ready, waiting his appearance. As soon 
as the usual ceremonials of a military departure were observed, 
the veteran and his more youthful companion left the fortress, 
attended by the escort. 

They had proceeded only a hundred yards from the works, 
when the little array which attended the French general to the 
conference, was seen issuing from the hollow way, which form- 
ed the bed of a brook that ran between the batteries of the 
besiegers and the fort. From the moment that Munro left his 
own works to appear in front of his enemies, his air had been 
grand, and his step and countenance highly military. The in- 
stant he caught a glimpse of the white plume that waved in the 
hat of Montcalm, his eye lighted, and age no longer appeared 
to possess any influence over his vast and still muscular person. 

“ Speak to the boys to be watchful, sir,” he said, in an under 
tone, to Duncan ; “ and to look well to their flints and steel, for 
one is never safe with a servant of these Louis ; at the same 
time, we will show them the front of men in deep security, 
Ye’ll understand me, Major Heyward !” 

He was interrupted by the clamor of a drum from the ap- 
proaching Frenchmen, which was immediately answered, when 
each party pushed an orderly in advance, bearing a white flag, 
and the wary Scotsman halted, with his guard close at his back. 
As soon as this slight salutation had passed, Montcalm moved 
towards them with a quick but graceful step, baring his head to 
the veteran, and dropping his spotless plume nearly to the 
earth in courtesy. If the air of Munro was more commanding 


206 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


and manly, it wanted both the ease and insinuating polish of 
that of the Frenchman. Neither spoke for a few moments, 
each regarding the other with curious and interested eyes. 
Then, as became his superior rank and the nature of the inter- 
view, Montcalm broke the silence. After uttering the usual 
words of greeting, he turned to Duncan, and continued, with a 
smile of recognition, speaking always in French — 

“ I am rejoiced, monsieur, that you have given us the plea- 
sure of your company on this occasion. There will be no ne- 
cessity to employ an ordinary interpreter ; for, in your hands, I 
feel the same security as if I spoke your language myself.” 

Duncan acknowledged the compliment, when Montcalm, 
turning to his guard, which, in imitation of that of their ene- 
mies, pressed close upon him, continued — 

“ En arriere, mes enfans — il fait chaud ; retirez-vous un peu.” 

Before Major Heyward would imitate this proof of confidence, 
he glanced his eyes around the plain, and beheld with uneasi- 
ness the numerous dusky groups of savages, who looked out 
from the margin of the surrounding woods, curious spectators 
of the interview. 

“ Monsieur de Montcalm will readily acknowledge the differ- 
ence in our situation,” he said, with some embarrassment, point- 
ing at the same time towards those dangerous foes, who were 
to be seen in almost every direction. “Were we to dismiss 
our guard, we should stand here at the mercy of our enemies.” 

“ Monsieur, you have the plighted faith of ‘ un gentilhomme 
Fran^ais,’ for your safety,” returned Montcalm, laying his hand 
impressively on his heart ; “ it should suffice.” 

“ It shall. Fall back,” Duncan added to the officer who led 
the escort ; “ fall back, sir, beyond hearing, and wait for orders.” 

Munro witnessed this movement with manifest uneasiness ; 
nor did he fail to demand an instant explanation. 

“ Is it not our interest, sir, to betray no distrust ?” retorted 
Duncan. “Monsieur de Montcalm pledges his word for our 
safety, and I have ordered the men to withdraw a little, in 
order to prove how much we depend on his assurance.” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


207 


“ It may be all right, sir, but I have no overweening reliance 
on the faith of these marquesses, or marquis, as they call them- 
selves. Their patents of nobility are too common to be certain 
that they bear the seal of true honor.” 

“You forget, dear sir, that we confer with an officer, distin- 
guished alike in Europe and America, for his deeds. From a 
soldier of his reputation we can have nothing to apprehend.” 

The old man made a gesture of resignation, though his rigid 
features still betrayed his obstinate adherence to a distrust, 
which he derived from a sort of hereditary contempt of his ene- 
my, rather than from any present signs which might warrant so 
uncharitable a feeling. Montcalm waited patiently until this 
little dialogue in demi-voice was ended, when he drew nigher, 
and opened the subject of their conference. 

“I have solicited this interview from your superior, mon- 
sieur,” he said, “ because I believe he will allow himself to be 
persuaded, that he has already done everything which is neces- 
sary for the honor of his prince, and will now listen to the 
admonitions of humanity. I will for ever bear testimony that his 
resistance has been gallant, and was continued as long as there 
was hope.” 

When this opening was translated to Munro, he answered 
with dignity, but with sufficient courtesy, 

“ However I may prize such testimony from Monsieur Mont- 
calm, it will be more valuable when it shall be better merited.” 

The French general smiled, as Duncan gave him the purport 
of this reply, and observed — 

“ What is now so freely accorded to approved courage, may 
be refused to useless obstinacy. Monsieur would wish to see 
my camp, and witness, for himself, our numbers, and the im- 
possibility of his resisting them, with success ?” 

“ I know that the King of France is well served,” returned the 
unmoved Scotsman, as soon as Duncan ended his translation ; 
“ but my own royal master has as many and as faithful troops.” 

“Though not at hand, fortunately for us,” said Montcalm, 
without waiting, in his ardor, for the interpreter. “ There is a 


208 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


destiny in war, to which a brave man knows how to submit, 
with the same courage that he faces his foes.” 

“ Had I been conscious that Monsieur Montcalm was master 
of the English, I should have spared myself the trouble of so 
awkward a translation,” said the vexed Duncan, drily ; remem- 
bering instantly his recent by-play with Munro. 

“ Your pardon, monsieur,” rejoined the Frenchman, suffering 
a slight color to appear on his dark cheek. “ There is a vast 
difference between understanding and speaking a foreign 
tongue ; you will, therefore, please to assist me still.” Then 
after a short pause, he added, “These hills afford us every 
opportunity of reconnoitring your works, messieurs, and I am 
possibly as well acquainted with their weak condition as you 
can be yourselves.” 

“ Ask the French general if his glasses can reach to the Hud- 
son,” said Munro, proudly ; “ and if he knows when and where 
to expect the army of Webb.” 

“ Let General Webb be his own interpreter,” returned the 
politic Montcalm, suddenly extending an open letter towards 
Munro, as he spoke ; “ You will there learn, monsieur, that 
his movements are not likely to prove embarrassing to my 
army.” 

The veteran seized the offered paper, without waiting for 
Duncan to translate the speech, and with an eagerness that 
betrayed how important he deemed its contents. As his eye 
passed hastily over the words, his countenance changed from its 
look of military pride to one of deep chagrin : his lip began to 
quiver ; and, suffering the paper to fall from his hand, his head 
dropped upon his chest, like that of a man whose hopes were 
withered at a single blow. Duncan caught the letter from the 
ground, and without apology for the liberty he took, he read at 
a glance its cruel purport. Their common superior, so far from 
encouraging them to resist, advised a speedy surrender, urging 
in the plainest language as a reason, the utter impossibility of 
his sending a single man to their rescue. 

“ Here is no deception !” exclaimed Duncan, examining the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS." 209 

billet both inside and out ; “ this is the signature of Webb, and 
must be the captured letter.” 

“ The man has betrayed me !” Munro at length bitterly 
exclaimed : “ he has brought dishonor to the door of one where 
disgrace w^as never before known to dw^ell, and shame has he 
heaped heavily on my grey hairs.” 

“Say not so,” cried Duncan; “w^e are yet masters of the 
fort, and of our honor. Let us then sell our lives at such a 
rate as shall make our enemies believe the purchase too dear.” 

“ Boy, I thank thee,” exclaimed the old man, rousing him- 
self from his stupor; “you have, for once, reminded Munro of 
his duty.- We wnll go back, and dig our graves behind those 
ramparts.” 

“ Messieurs,” said Montcalm, advancing towards them a step, 
in generous interest, “you little know Louis de St. Veran, if 
you believe him capable of profiting by this letter to humble 
brave men, or to build up a dishonest reputation for himself. 
Listen to my terms before you leave me.” 

“What says the Frenchman?” demanded the veteran, stern- 
ly ; “ does he make a merit of having captured a scout, with a 
note from head-quarters ? Sir, he had better raise this siege, to 
go and sit down before Edward if he wishes to frighten his 
enemy with words.” 

Duncan explained the other’s meaning. 

“ Monsieur de Montcalm, we will hear you,” the veteran add- 
ed, more calmly, as Duncan ended. 

“ To retain the fort is now impossible,” said his liberal en- 
emy : “ it is necessary to the interests of my master that it 
should be destroyed ; but, as for yourselves, and your brave 
comrades, there is no privilege dear to a soldier that shall be 
denied.” 

“ Our colors ?’’ demanded Heyward. 

“ Carry them to England, and show them to your king.” 

“Our arms?” 

“ Keep them ; none can use them better.” 

“ Our march ; the surrender of the place ?” 


210 


THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 


“ Shall all be done in a way most honorable to yourselves.” 

Duncan now turned to explain these proposals to his com- 
mander, who heard him with amazement, and a sensibility that 
was deeply touched by so unusual and unexpected generosity. 

“Go you, Duncan,” he said; “go with this marquess, as 
indeed marquess he should be ; go to his marquee, and arrange 
it all. I have lived to see two things in my old age, that never 
did I expect to behold. An Englishman afraid to support a 
friend, and a Frenchman too honest to profit by his advantage.” 

So saying, the veteran again dropped his head to his chest, 
and returned slowly towards the fort, exhibiting, by the dejec- 
tion of his air, to the anxious garrison, a harbinger of evil 
tidings. 

From the shock of this unexpected blow the haughty feelings 
of Munro never recovered ; but from that moment there com- 
menced a change in his determined character, which accompa- 
nied him to a speedy grave. Duncan remained to settle the 
terms of the capitulation. He was seen to re-enter the works 
during the first watches of the night, and immediately after a 
private conference with the corhmandant, to leave them again. 
It was then openly announced, that hostilities must cease — 
Munro having signed a treaty, by which the place was to be 
yielded to the enemy, with the morning ; the garrison to retain 
their arms, their colors, and their baggage, and consequently, 
according to military opinion, their honor. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


211 


CHAPTER XVII. 

Weave we the woof. The thread is spun. 

The web is wove. The work is done. 

Grat. 

The hostile armies, which lay in the wilds of the Horican, 
passed the night of the ninth of August, 1757, much in the 
manner th^y would had they encountered on the fairest field of 
Europe. While the conquered were still, sullen, and dejected, 
the victors triumphed. But there are limits, alike, to grief and 
joy ; and long before the watches of the morning came, the 
stillness of those boundless woods was only broken by a gay 
call from some exulting young Frenchman of the advanced 
pickets, or a menacing challenge from the fort, which sternly 
forbade the approach of any hostile footsteps before the stipu- 
lated moment. Even these occasional threatening sounds 
ceased to be lieard in that dull hour which precedes the day, at 
which period a listener might have sought in vain any evi- 
dence of the presence of those armed powers that then slumber- 
ed on the shores of the “ holy lake.” 

It w'as during these moments of deep silence, that the can- 
vas which concealed the entrance to a spacious marquee in the 
French encampment was shoved aside, and a man issued from 
beneath the drapery into the open air. He was enveloped in a 
cloak that might have been intended as a protection from the 
chilling damps of the woods, but which served equally well as a 
mantle, to conceal his person. He was permitted to pass the 
grenadier, who watched over the slumbers of the French com- 
mander, without interruption, the man making the usual salute 
which betokens military deference, as the other passed swiftly 
through the little city of tents, in the direction of William Hen- 
ry. Whenever this unknown individual encountered one of the 


212 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


numberless sentinels who crossed his path, his answer was 
prompt, and as it appeared satisfactory ; for he was uniformly 
allowed to proceed, without further interrogation. 

With the exception of such repeated, but brief interruptions, 
he had moved, silently, from the centre of the camp, to its most 
advanced outposts, when he drew nigh the soldier who held 
his watch nearest to the works of the enemy. As he approach- 
ed he was received with the usual challenge — 

“Qui vive ?” 

“France,” was the reply. 

“ Le mot d’ordre ?” 

“ La victoire,” said the other, drawing so nigh as to be heard 
in a loud whisper. 

“ C’est bien,” returned the sentinel, throwing his musket from 
the charge to his shoulder ; “ vous vous promenez bien matin, 
monsieur !” 

“ II est necessaire d’etre vigilant, mon enfant,” the other 
observed, dropping a fold of his cloak, and looking the soldier 
close in the face, as he passed him, still continuing his way 
towards the British fortification. The man started ; his arms 
rattled heavily, as he threw them forward, in the lowest and 
most respectful salute; and when he had again recovered his 
piece, he turned to walk his post, muttering between his teeth — 

“ II faut 6tre \ngilant, en v6rit6 ! je crois que nous avons la, 
un caporal qui ne dort jamais !” 

The officer proceeded, without affecting to hear the words 
which escaped the sentinel in his surprise ; nor did he again 
pause until he had reached the low strand, and in a somewhat 
dangerous vicinity to the western water bastion of the fort. 
The light of an obscure moon was just sufficient to 
render objects, though dim, perceptible in their outlines. He, 
therefore, took the precaution to place himself against the trunk 
of a tree, where he leaned for many minutes, and seemed to 
contemplate the dark and silent mounds of the English works 
in profound attention. His gaze at the ramparts was not that 
of a curious or idle spectator ; but his looks w^andered from 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


213 


point to point, denoting liis knowledge of military usages, and 
betraying that his search was not unaccompanied by distrust. 
At length he appeared satisfied ; and having cast his eyes im- 
patiently upward towards the summit of the eastern mountain, 
as if anticipating the approach of the morning, he was in the 
act of turning on his footsteps, when a light sound on the 
nearest angle of the bastion caught his ear, and induced him to 
remain. 

J ust then a figure was seen to approach the edge of the ram- 
part, where it stood, apparently contemplating in its turn the 
distant tents of the French encampment. Its head was then 
turned towards the east, as though equally anxious for the ap- 
pearance of light, when the form leaned against the mound, 
and seemed to gaze upon the glassy expanse of the waters, 
which, like a submarine firmament, glittered with its thousand 
mimic stars. The melancholy air, the hour, together with the 
vast frame of the man who thus leaned, in musing, against the 
English ramparts, left no doubt as to his person, in the mind of 
the observant spectator. Delicacy, no less than prudence, now 
urged him to retire ; and he had moved cautiously round the 
body of the tree for that purpose, when another sound drew 
his attention, and once more arrested his footsteps. It was a 
low, and almost inaudible movement of the water, and was suc- 
ceeded by a grating of pebbles one against the other. In a 
moment he saw a dark form rise, as it were out of the lake, and 
steal without further noise to the land, within a few feet of the 
place where he himself stood. A rifle next slowly rose be- 
tween his eyes and the watery mirror ; but before it could be 
discharged his own hand was on the lock. 

“ Hugh I” exclaimed the savage, whose treacherous aim was 
so singularly and so unexpectedly interrupted. 

Without making any reply, the French officer laid his hand 
on the shoulder of the Indian, and led him in profound silence 
to a distance from the spot, where their subsequent dialogue 
might have proved dangerous, and where it seemed that one of 
them, at least, sought a victim. Then, throwing open his cloak, 


214 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


SO as to expose his uniform and the cross of St. Louis which 
was suspended at his breast, Montcalm sternly demanded — 

“ What means this ! does not my son know that the hatchet 
is buried between the English and his Canadian Father ?” 

“ What can the Hurons do ?” returned the savage, speaking 
also, though imperfectly, in the French language. “ Not a 
warrior has a scalp, and the pale faces make friends !” 

“ Ha ! Le Renard Subtil ! Methinks this is an excess of zeal 
for a friend who was so late an enemy ! How many suns have 
set since Le Renard struck the war post of the English ?” 

“ Where is that sun !” demanded the sullen savage. “ Be- 
hind the hill ; and it is dark and cold. But when he comes 
again, it will be bright and warm. Le Subtil is the sun of his 
tribe. There have been clouds, and many mountains between 
him and his nation ; but now he shines, and it is a clear sky 1” 

“ That Le Renard has power with his people, I well know,” 
said Montcalm ; “ for yesterday he hunted for their scalps, and 
to-day they hear him at the council fire.” 

“ Magua is a great chief.” 

“ Let him prove it, by teaching his nation how to conduct 
towards our new friends.” 

“Why did the chief of the Canadas bring his young men 
into the woods, and fire his cannon at the earthen house?” 
demanded the subtle Indian. 

“ To subdue it. My master owns the land, and your father 
was ordered to drive off these English squatters. They have 
consented to go, and now he calls them enemies no longer.” 

“ ’Tis well. Magua took the hatchet to colour it with blood. 
It is now bright ; when it is red, it shall be buried.” 

“But Magua is pledged not to sully the lilies of France. 
The enemies of the great king across the salt lake are his ene- 
mies ; his friends, the friends of the Hurons.” 

“ Friends !” repeated the Indian, in scorn. “Let his father 
give Magua a hand.” 

Montcalm, who felt that his influence over the warlike tribes 
he had gathered was to be maintained by concession rather 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 215 

than by power, complied reluctantly with the other’s request. 
The savage placed the finger of the French commander on a 
deep scar in his bosom, and then exultingly demanded - 

“ Does my father know that ?” 

“What warrior does not? ’tis where a leaden bullet has 
cut.” 

“And this ?” continued the Indian, who had turned his nak- 
ed back to the other, his body being without its usual calico 
mantle. 

“ This ! — my son has been sadly injured, here ; who has 
done this ?” 

“ Magua slept hard in the English wigwams, and the sticks 
have left their mark,” returned the savage, with a hollow laugh, 
which did not conceal the fierce temper that nearly choked 
him. Then recollecting himself, with sudden and native digni- 
ty, he added — “ Go ; teach your young men, it is peace. Le 
Renard Subtil knows how to speak to a Huron warrior.” 

AVithout deigning to bestow further words, or to wait for 
any answer, the savage cast his rifle into the hollow of his arm, 
and moved silently through the encampment towards the 
woods where his own tribe was known to lie. Every few yards 
as he proceeded he was challenged by the sentinels; but he 
stalked sullenly onward, utterly disregarding the summons 
of the soldiers, who only spared his life because they knew the 
air and tread no less than the obstinate daring of an Indian. 

Montcalm lingered long and melancholy on the strand, 
where he had been left by his companion, brooding deeply on 
the temper which his ungovernable ally had just discovered. 
Already had his fair fame been tarnished by one horrid scene, 
and in circumstances fearfully resembling those under which he 
now found himself. As he mused he became keenly sensible of 
the deep responsibility they assume, who disregard the means 
to attain their end, and of all the danger of setting in motion 
an engine which it exceeds human power to control. Then 
shaking off a train of reflections that he accounted a weakness 
in such a moment of triumph, he retraced his steps towards his 


21C 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


tent, giving- the order as he passed, to make the signal that 
should arouse the army from its slumbers. 

The first tap of the French drums was echoed from the bo- 
som of the fort, and presently the valley was filled with the 
strains of martial music, rising long, thrilling, and lively above 
the rattling accompaniment. The horns of the victors sounded 
merry and cheerful flourishes, until the last laggard of the camp 
was at his post ; but the instant the British fifes had blown 
their shrill signal, they became mute. In the meantime the 
day had dawned, and when the line of the French army was ready 
to receive its general the rays of a brilliant sun were glancing 
along the glittering array. Then that success, which was 
already so well known, was officially announced; the favored 
band who were selected to guard the gates of the fort were 
detailed, and defiled before their chief ; the signal of their 
approach was given, and all the usual preparations for a change 
of masters were ordered and executed directly under the guns 
of^ the contested works. 

A very different scene presented itself within the lines of the 
Anglo-American army. As soon as the warning signal was 
given, it exhibited all the signs of a hurried and forced depart- 
ure. The sullen soldiers shouldered their empty tubes and fell 
into their places, like men whose blood had been heated by the 
past contest, and who only desired the opportunity to revenge 
an indignity which was still wounding to their pride, concealed 
as it was under all the observances of military etiquette. Wo- 
men and children ran from place to place, some bearing the 
scanty remnants of their baggage, and others searching in the 
ranks for those countenances they looked up to for protec- 
tion. 

Munro appeared among his silent troops firm but dejected. 
It was evident that the unexpected blow had struck deep into 
his heart, though he struggled to sustain his misfortune with 
the port of a man. 

Duncan was touched at the quiet and impressive exhibition 
of his grief. He had discharged his own duty, and he now 


T HE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


217 


pressed to the side of the old man, to know in what particular 
he might serve him. 

“ My daughters,” was the brief but expressive reply. 

“ Good heavens ! are not arrangements already made for 
their convenience ?” 

“To-day I am only a soldier. Major Heyward,” said the 
veteran. “All that you, see here, claim alike to be my chil- 
dren.” 

Duncan had heard enough. Without losing one of those 
moments which had now become so precious, he flew towards 
the quarters of Munro, in quest of the sisters. He found them 
on the threshold of the low edifice, already prepared to depart, 
and surrounded by a clamorous and weeping assemblage of 
their own sex, that had gathered about the place, with a sort of 
instinctive consciousness that it was the point most likely to be 
protected. Though the cheeks of Cora were pale, and her 
countenance anxious, she had lost none of her firmness ; but 
the eyes of Alice were inflamed, and betrayed how long and 
bitterly she had wept. They both, however, received the young 
man with undisguised pleasure ; the former, for a novelty, 
being the first to speak. 

“ The fort is lost,” she said, with* a melancholy smile ; 
“ though our good name, I trust, remains.” 

“’Tis brighter than ever. But, dearest Miss Munro, it is 
time to think less of others, and to make some provision for 
yourself. Military usage — pride — that pride on which you 
so much value yourself, demands that your father and I should 
for a little while continue with the troops. Then where to 
seek a proper protector for you against the confusion and 
chances of such a scene ?” 

“None is necessary,” returned Cora; “who will dare to in- 
jure or insult t^ie daughter of such a father, at a time like 
this?” 

“ I would not leave you alone,” continued the youth, looking 
about him in a hurried manner, “for the command of the 
best regnment in the pay of the king. Remember, our Alice is 
♦ ■ 10 


218 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


not gifted with all your firmness, and God only knows the ter- 
ror she might endure.” 

“You may be right,” Cora replied, smiling again, but fat 
more sadly than before. “ Listen ; chance has already sent us 
a friend when he is most needed.” 

Duncan did listen, and on the instant comprehended her 
meaning. The low and serious sounds of the sacred music, so 
well known to the eastern provinces, canght his ear, and instant- 
ly drew him to an apartment in an adjacent building, which 
had already been deserted by its customary tenants. There he 
found David, pouring out his pious feelings, through the only 
medium in which he ever indulged. Duncan waited, until, by 
the cessation of the movement of the hand, he believed the 
strain was ended, when, by touching his shoulder, he drew the 
attention of the other to himself, and in a few words explained 
his wishes. 

“ Even so,” replied the single-minded disciple of the King of 
Israel, when the young man had ended ; “ I have found much 
that is comely and melodious in the maidens, and it is fitting 
that we who have consorted in so much peril, should abide 
together in peace. I will attend them, when I have completed 
my*' morning praise, to 'which nothing is now wanting but the 
doxology. Wilt thou bear a part, friend ? The metre is com- 
mon, and the tune ‘ Southwell.’ ” 

Then, extending the little volume, and giving the pitch of 
the air anew' with considerate attention, David recommenced 
and finished his strains, with a fixedness of manner that it was 
not easy to interrupt. Heyward was fain to w'ait until the 
verse was ended ; when, seeing David relieving himself from 
the spectacles, and replacing the book, he continued — 

“ It will be your duty to see that none dare to approach the 
ladies with any rude intention, or to offer insult or taunt at the 
misfortune of their brave father. In this task you will be 
seconded by the domestics of their household.” 

“ Even so.” 

It is possible that the Indians and stragglers of the enemy 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


219 


may intrude, in which case you will remind them of the terms 
of the capitulation, and threaten to report their conduct to 
Montcalm. A word will suffice.” 

“ If not, I have that here which shall,” returned David, ex- 
hibiting his book, with an air in which meekness and confidence 
were singularly blended. “ Here are words which, uttered, or 
rather thundered, with proper emphasis, and in measured time, 
shall quiet the most uniaily temper : — 


“ ‘ Why rrige the heathen furiously !’ ” — 


“ Enough,” said Heyward, interrupting the burst of his mu- 
sical invocation : “ we understand each other ; it is time that 
we should now assume our respective duties.” 

Gamut cheerfully assented, and together they sought the 
females. Cora received her new, and somewhat extraordinary 
protector, courteously at least; and even the pallid features of 
Alice lighted again with some of their native archness as she 
thanked Heyward for his care. Duncan took occasion to 
assure them he had done the best that circumstances permitted, 
and, as he believed, quite enough for the security of their feel- 
ings ; of danger there was none. He then spoke gladly of his 
intention to rejoin them the moment he had led the advance 
a few miles towards the Hudson, and immediately took his 
leave. 

By this time the signal of departure had been given, and the 
head of the English column was in motion. The sisters started 
at the sound, and glancing their eyes around, they saw the 
white uniforms of the French grenadiers, who had already taken 
possession of the gates of the fort. At that moment, an 
enormous cloud seemed to pass suddenly above their heads, and 
looking upward, they discovered that they stood beneath the 
wide folds of the standard of France. 

“ Let us go,” said Cora ; “ this is no longer a fit place for 
the children of an English officer.” 

Alice clung to the arm of her sister, and together they left 


220 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


the parade, accompanied by the moving throng that surrounded 
them. 

As they passed the gates, the French officers, who had learn- 
ed their rank, bowed often and low, forbearing, however, to 
intrude those attentions, which they saw, with peculiar tact, 
might not be agreeable. As every vehicle and each beast of 
burden was occupied by the sick and wounded, Ci ra had decid- 
ed to endure the fatigues of a foot march, rather than interfere 
with their comforts. Indeed, many a maimed and feeble sol- 
dier was compelled to drag his exhausted limbs in the rear of 
the columns, for the want of the necessary means of conveyance, 
in that wilderness. The whole, however, was in motion ; the 
w^eak and wounded, groaning, and in suffering ; their comrades, 
silent and sullen ; and the women and children in terror, they 
knew not of what. 

As the confused and timid throng left the protecting mounds 
of the fort, and issued on the open plain, the whole scene was 
at once presented to their eyes. At a little distance on the 
right, and somewhat in the rear, the French army stood to 
their arms, Montcalm having collected his parties, so soon as his 
guards had possession of the works. They were attentive but 
silent observers of the proceedings of the vanquished, failing in 
none of the stipulated military honors, and offering no taunt or 
insult, in their success, to their less fortunate foes. Living 
masses of the English, to the amount in the whole, of near three 
thousand, were moving slowly across the plain, towards the 
common centre, and gradually approached each other, as they 
converged to the point of their march, a vista cut throuo-h the 
lofty trees, where the road to the Hudson entered the forest. 
Along the sweeping borders of the woods, hung a dark cloud 
of savages, eyeing the passage of their enemies, and hovering, 
at a distance, like vultures, who were only kept from stooping 
on their prey, by the presence and restraint of a superior army. 
A few had straggled among the conquered columns, where they 
stalked in sullen discontent ; attentive, though, as yet, passive 
observers of the moving multitude. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


221 


The advance, 'vvitli Heyward at its head, had already reach- 
ed the defile, and was slowly disappearing, when the attention 
of Cora was drawn to a collection of stragglers, by the sounds 
of contention. A truant provincial was paying the forfeit of his 
disobedience, by- being plundered of those very effects which 
had caused him to desert his place in the ranks. The man was 
of powerful frame, and too avaricious to part with his goods 
without a struggle. Individuals from either party interfered ; 
the one side to prevent, and the other to aid in the robbery. 
Voices grew loud and angry, and a hundred savages appeared, 
as it were by magic, wliere a dozen only had been seen a minute 
before. It was then that Cora saw the form of Magua gliding 
among his countrymen, and speaking with his fatal and 
artful eloquence. The mass of women and children stopped, 
and hovered together like alarmed and fluttering birds. But 
the cupidity of the Indian was soon gratified, and the diflferent 
bodies again moved slowly onward. 

The savages now fell back, and seemed content to let their 
enemies advance without further molestation. But as the 
female crowd approached them, the gaudy colors of a shawl 
attracted the eyes of a wild and untutored Huron. He advanced 
to seize it, without the least hesitation. The woman, more in 
terror than through love of the ornament, wrapped her child 
in the coveted article, and folded both more closely to her 
bosom. Cora was in the act of speaking, with an intent to 
advise the woman to abandon the trifle, when the savage relin- 
quished his hold of the shawl, and tore the screaming infant 
from her arms. Abandoning everything to the greedy grasp 
of those around her, the mother darted, with distraction in her 
mien, to reclaim her child. The Indian smiled grimly, and 
extended one hand, in sign of a willingness to exchange, while, 
with the other, he flourished the babe over his head, holding it 
by the feet as if to enhance the value of the ransom. • 

“ Here — here — there — all — any — e\'erything !” exclaimed the 
breathless woman ; tearing the lighter articles of dress from her 


222 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


person, with ill-directed and trembling fingers : — “ take all, but 
give me my babe !” 

The savage spurned the worthless rags, and perceiving that 
the shawl had already become a prize to another, his bantering 
but sullen smile changing to a gleam of ferocity, he dashed the 
head of the infant against a rock, and cast its quivering remains 
to her very feet. For an instant, the mother stood, like a 
statue of despair, looking wildly down at the unseemly object, 
which had so lately nestled in her bosom aud smiled in her 
face ; and then she raised her eyes and countenance towards 
heaven, as if calling on God to curse the perpetrator of the 
foul deed. She was spared the sin of such a prayer ; for, mad- 
dened at his disappointment, and excited at the sight of blood, 
the Huron mercifully drove his tomahawk into her own brain. 
The mother sank under the blow, and fell, grasping at her 
child, in death, with the same engrossing love that had caused 
her to cherish it when living. 

At that dangerous moment Magua placed his hands to his 
mouth, and raised the fatal and appalling whoop. The scattered 
Indians started at the well known cry, as coui-sers bound at the 
signal to quit the goal ; and, directly, there arose such a yell 
along the plain, and through the arches of the wood, as seldom 
burst from human lips before. They who heard it, listened 
with a curdling horror at the heart, little inferior to that dread 
which may be expected to attend the blasts of the final sum- 
mons. 

More than two thousand raving savages broke from the forest 
at the signal, and threw themselves across the fatal plain with 
instinctive alacrity. We shall not dwell on the revolting hor- 
roi-s that succeeded. Death was everywhere, and in his most 
terrific and disgusting aspects. Resistance only served to in- 
flame the murderers, who inflicted their furious blows long 
after their victims were beyond the power of their resentment. 
The flow of blood might be likened to the outbreaking of a tor- 
rent ; and as the natives became heated and maddened by the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


223 


sight, many among them even kneeled to the earth, and drank 
freely, exultingly, hellishly, of the crimson tide. 

The trained bodies of the troops threw themselves quickly 
into solid masses, endeavouring to awe their assailants by the 
imposing appearance of a military front. The experiment in 
some measure succeeded, though far too many suffered their 
unloaded muskets to be torn from their hands, in the vain hope 
of appeasing the savages. 

In such a scene none had leisure to note the fleeting mo- 
ments. It might have been ten minutes (it seemed an age), 
that the sisters had stood riveted to one spot, horror-stricken, 
and nearly helpless. When the first blow was struck, their 
screaming Companions had pressed upon them in a body, ren- 
dering flight impossible ; and now that fear or death had scat- 
tered most, if not all, from around them, they saw no avenue 
open, but such as conducted to the tomahawks of their foes. 
On every side arose shrieks, groans, exhortations, and curses. 
At this moment, Alice caught a glimpse of the vast form of 
her father, moving rapidly across the plain, in the direction of 
the French army. He was, in truth, proceeding to Montcalm, 
fearless of every danger, to claim the tardy escort, for which he 
had before conditioned. Fifty glittering axes and barbed 
spears, were offered unheeded at his life, but the savages re- 
spected bis rank and calmness, even in their fury. The danger- 
ous weapons were brushed aside by the still nervous arm of the 
veteran, or fell of themselves, after menacing an act that it 
would seem no one had courage to perform. Fortunately, the 
vindictive Magua was searching for his victim in the very band 
the veteran had just quitted. 

“ Father^father — we are here !” shrieked Alice, as he pass- 
ed, at no great distance, without appearing to heed them. 
“ Come to us, father, or we die !” 

The cry was repeated, and in terms and tones that might 
have melted a heart of stone, but it was unanswered. Once, 
indeed, the old man appeared to catch the sounds, for he paused 
and listened ; but Alice had dropped senseless on the earth, and 


224 


THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 


Cora had sunk at her side, hovering in untiring tenderness over 
her lifeless form. Munro shook his head in disappointment, 
and proceeded, bent on the high duty of his station. 

“ Lady,” said Gamut, who, helpless and useless as he was, 
had not yet dreamed of deserting his trust, “ it is the jubilee of 
the devils, and this is not a meet place for Christians to tarry 
in. Let us up and fly.” 

“ Go,” said Cora, still gazing at her unconscious sister ; “ save 
thyself. To me thou canst not be of further use.” 

David comprehended the unyielding character of her resolu- 
tion, by the simple but expressive gesture that accompanied 
her words. He gazed, for a moment, at the dusky forms that 
were acting their hellish rites on every side of him, and his tall 
person grew more erect, while his chest heaved, and every 
feature swelled, and seemed to speak with the power of the 
feelings by which he was governed. 

“ If the Jewish boy might tame the evil spirit of SaUl by the 
sound of his harp, and the words of sacred song, it may not be 
amiss,” he said, “ to try the potency of music here.” 

Then raising his voice to its highest tones, he poured out a 
strain so powerful as to be heard even amid the din of that 
bloody field. More than one savage rushed towards them, 
thinking to rifle the unprotected sisters of their attire, and bear 
away their scalps ; but when they found this strange and un- 
moved figure riveted to his post, they paused to listen. ' Asto- 
nishment soon changed to admiration, and they passed on to 
other, and less courageous, victims, openly expressing their satis- 
faction at the firmness with which the white warrior sang his 
death song. Encouraged and deluded by his success, David 
exerted all his powers to extend what he believed so holy an 
influence. The unwonted sounds caught the ears of a distant 
savage, who flew raging from group to group, like one who, 
scorning to touch the vulgar herd, hunted for some victim more 
worthy of his renown. It was Magua, who uttered a yell of 
pleasure when he beheld his ancient prisoners again at his 
mercy. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


225 


“ Come,” he said, laying his soiled hands on the dress of 
Cora, “ the wigwam of the Huron is still open. Is it not better 
than this place ?” 

“Away!” cried Cora, veiling her eyes from his revolting 
aspect. 

The Indian laughed tauntingly, as he held up his reeking 
hand, and answered — “It is red, hut it comes from white 
veins !” 

“ Monster ! there is blood, oceans of blood, upon thy soul : 
thy spirit has moved this scene.” 

“Magua is a great chief !” returned the exulting savage: — 
“ will the dark hair go to his tribe ?” 

“ Never ! strike, if thou wilt, and complete thy revenge.” 

He hesitated a moment; and than catching the light and 
senseless form of Alice in his arms, the subtle Indian moved 
swiftly across the plain towards the woods. 

“Hold!” shrieked Cora, following wildly on his footsteps: 
“ release the child ! wretch ! what is ’t you do ?” 

But Magua was deaf to her voice ; or rather he knew his 
power, and was determined to maintain it. 

“Stay — lady — stay,” called Gamut, after the unconscious 
Cora. “ The holy charm is beginning to be felt, and soon shalt 
thou see this horrid tumult stilled.” 

Perceiving that, in his turn, he was unheeded, the faithful 
David followed the distracted sister, raising his voice again in 
sacred song, and sweeping the air to the measure, with his 
long arm, in diligent accompaniment. In this manner they 
traversed the plain, through the flying, the wounded, and 
the dead. The fierce Huron was, at any time, sufficient for 
himself and the victim that he bore ; though Cora would have 
fallen, more than once, under the blows of her savage enemies, 
but for the extraordinary being who stalked in her rear, and 
who now appeared to the astonished natives gifted with the pro- 
tecting spirit of madness. 

Magua, who knew how to avoid the more pressing dangers, 
and also to elude pursuit, entered the woods through a low 

10 * 


220 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


ravine, where lie quickly found the Narragansetts, which the 
travellers had abandoned so shoi'tly before, awaiting his appear- 
ance, in custody of a savage as fierce and as malign in his 
expression as himself. Laying Alice on one of the horses, he 
made a sign to Cora to mount the other. 

Notwithstanding the horror excited by the presence of her 
captor, there was a present relief in escaping from the bloody 
scene enacting on the plain, to which Cora could not be alto- 
gether insensible. She took her seat, and held forth her arms 
for her sister, with an air of entreaty apd love ihat even the 
Huron could not deny. Placing Alice, then, on the same 
animal with Cora, he seized the bridle, and commenced his route 
by plunging deeper into the forest. David, perceiving that he 
was left alone, utterly disregarded as a subject too worthless 
even to destroy, threw his long limb across the saddle of the 
beast they had deserted, and made such progress in the pursuit 
as the difficulties of the path permitted. 

They soon began to ascend ; but as the motion had a tendency 
to revive the dormant faculties of her sister, the attention of 
Cora was too much divided between the tenderest solicitude in 
her behalf, and in listening to the cries which were still too 
audible on the plain, to note the direction in which they 
journeyed. When, however, they gained the flattened surface 
of the mountain-top, and approached the eastern precipice, she 
recognised the spot to which she had once before been led under 
the more friendly auspices of the scout. Here Magua suffered 
them to dismount ; and, notwithstanding their own captivity, 
the curiosity which seems inseparable from horror, induced them 
to gaze at the sickening sight below. 

The cruel work was still unchecked. On every side the 
captured were flying before their relentless persecutors, while 
the armed columns of the Christian king stood fast in an apathy 
which has never been explained, and which has left an 
immovable blot on the otherwise fair escutcheon of their leader. 
Nor was the sword of death stayed until cupidity got the 
mastery of revenge. Then, indeed, the shrieks of the wounded 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


227 


and the yells of their murderers grew less frequent, until, finally, 
the cries of horror were lost to their ear, or were drowned in 
the loud, long, and piercing whoops of the triumphant savages.^ 


* The accounts of the number who fell in this unhappy affair, vary between five 
and fifteen hundred. 


V 


228 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

Why, any thing ; 

An honorable murderer, if you will ; 

For nought I did in hate, but all in honor. 

Othello. 

The bloody and inhuman scene rather incidentally mentioned 
than described in the preceding chapter, is conspicuous in the 
pages of colonial history, by the merited title of “ The Massacre 
of William Henry.” It so far deepened the stain which a 
previous and very similar event had left upon the reputation of 
the French commander, that it was not entirely erased by his 
early and glorious death. It is now becoming obscuied by 
time ; and thousands, who know that Montcalm died like a 
hero on the plains of Abraham, have yet to learn how much he 
was deficient in that moral courage without which no man can 
be truly great. Pages might be written to prove, from this 
illustrious example, the defects of human excellence ; to show 
how easy it is for generous sentiments, high courtesy, and 
chivalrous courage, to lose their influence beneath the chilling 
blight of selfishness, and to exhibit to the world a man who was 
great in all the minor attributes of character, but who was found 
wanting when it became necessary to prove how much principle 
is superior to policy. But the task would exceed our preroga- 
tives ; and, as history, like love, is so apt to surround her herpes 
with an atmosphere of imaginary brightness, it is probable that 
Louis de Saint Veran will be viewed by posterity only as the 
gallant defender of his country, while his cruel apathy on the 
shores of the Oswego and of the Horican will be forgotten. 
Deeply regretting this weakness on the part of a sister muse, 
we shall at once retire, from her sacred precincts, within the 
proper limits of our own humble vocation. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 229 

The third day from the capture of the fort was drawing to a 
close, but the business of the narrative must still detain the 
reader on the shores of the “ holy lake.” When last seen, the 
environs of the w’orks were filled with violence and uproar. 
They were now possessed by stillness and death. The blood- 
stained conquerors had departed ; and their camp, which had 
so lately rung with the merry rejoicings of a victorious army, 
lay a silent and deserted city of huts. The fortress was a 
smouldering ruin; charred rafters, fragments of exploded 
artillery, and rent mason-work, covering its earthen mounds in 
confused disorder. 

A frightful change had also occurred in the season. The sun 
had hid its w^armth behind an impenetrable mass of vapor, and 
hundreds of human forms, which had blackened beneath the 
fierce heats of August, were stiffening in their deformity, before 
the blasts of a premature November. The curling and spotless 
mists, which had been seen sailing above the hills towards the 
north, were now returning in an interminable dusky sheet, that 
W'as urged along by the fury of a tempest. The crowded mirror of 
the Horican was gone ; and, in its place, the green and angry 
waters lashed the shores, as if indignantly casting back its 
impurities to the polluted strand. Still the clear fountain 
retained a portion of its charmed influence, but it reflected only 
the sombre gloom that fell from the impending heavens. That 
humid and congenial atmosphere which commonly adorned the 
view, veiling its harshness, and softening its asperities, had 
disappeared, and the northern air poured across the waste of 
water so harsh and unmingled, that nothing was left to be 
conjectured by the eye, or fashioned by the fancy. 

The fiercer element had cropped the verdure of the plain, 
which looked as though it were scathed by the consuming 
lightning. But, here and there, a dark green tuft rose in the 
midst of the desolation ; the earliest fruits of a soil that had 
been fattened with human blood. The whole landscape, which, 
seen by a favoring light, and in a genial temperature, had been 
found so lovely, appeared now like some pictured allegory of 


230 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


life, in which objects were arrayed in their harshest but tiiiest 
colors, and without the relief of any shadowing. 

The solitary and arid blades of grass arose from the passing 
gusts fearfully perceptible ; the bold and rocky mountains were 
too distinct in their barrenness, and the eye even sought relief, 
in vain, by attempting to pierce the illimitable void of heaven, 
which was shut to its gaze by the dusky sheet of ragged 
and driving vapor. 

The wind blew unequally ; sometimes sweeping heavily along 
the ground, seeming to whisper its meanings in the cold ears of 
the dead, then rising in a shrill and mournful whistling, it 
entered the forest with a rush that filled the air with the leaves 
and branches it scattered in its path. Amid the unnatural 
showier, a few hungry ravens struggled with the gale ; hut no 
sooner was the green ocean of woods, which stretched beneath 
them, passed, than they gladly stopped, at random, tq their 
hideous banquet. 

In short, it was a scene of wildness and desolation ; and it 
appeared as if all who had profanely entered it had been 
stricken, at a blow, by the relentless arm of death. But the 
prohibition had ceased ; and, for the first time since the perpe- 
trators of those foul deeds which had assisted to disfigure the 
scene, were gone, living human beings had now presumed to 
approach the place. 

About an hour before the setting of the sun, on the day 
already mentioned, the forms of five men might have been seen 
issuing from the narrow vista of trees, where the path to the 
Hudson entered the forest, and advancing in the direction of 
the ruined works. At first their progress was slow and guarded, 
as though they entered with reluctance amid the horrors of the 
spot, or dreaded the renewal of its frightful incidents. A light 
figure preceded the rest of the party, with the caution and 
activity of a native ; ascending every hillock to reconnoitre, and 
indicating, by gestures, to his companions, the route he deemed 
it most prudent to pursue. Nor were those in the rear wanting 
in every caution and foresight known to forest warfare. One 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


231 


among them, he also was an Indian, moved a little on one 
flank, and watched the margin of the woods, with eyes long 
accustomed to read the smallest sign of danger. The remaining 
three were white, though clad in vestments adapted, both in 
quality and color, to their present hazardous pursuit, — that of 
hanging on the skirts of a retiring army in the wilderness. 

The effects produced by the appalling sights that constantly 
arose in their path to the lake shore, were as different as the 
characters of the respective individuals who composed the 
party. The youth in front threw serious but furtive glances at 
the mangled victims, as he stepped lightly across the plain, 
afraid to exhibit his feelings, and yet too inexperienced to quell 
entirely their sudden and powerful influence. His red associate, 
however, was superior to such a weakness. He passed the 
groups of dead with a steadiness of purpose, and an eye so 
calm, that nothing but long and inveterate practice could 
enable him to maintain. The sensations produced in the minds 
of even the white men were different, though uniformly sorrow- 
ful. One, whose grey locks and furrowed lineaments, blending 
with a martial air and tread, betrayed, in spite of the disguise, 
of a woodman’s dress, a man long experienced in scenes of war, 
was not ashamed to groan aloud, whenever a spectacle of more 
^an usual horror came under his view. The young man at 
his elbow shuddered, but seemed to suppress his feelings in 
tenderness to his companion. Of them all, the straggler who 
brought up the rear, appeared alone to betray his real thoughts, 
without fear of observation or dread of consequences. He 
gazed at the most appalling sight with eyes and muscles that 
knew not how to waver, but with execrations so bitter and deep 
as to denote how much he denounced the crime of his enemies. 

The reader will perceive, at once, in these respective charac- 
ters, the Mohicans, and their white friend, the scout ; together 
with Munro and Heyward. It was, in truth, the father in quest 
of his children, attended by the youth who felt so deep a stake 
in their happiness, and those brave and trusty foresters, who 


232 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

had already proved their skill and fidelity through the trying 
scenes related. 

When Uncas, who moved in front, had reached the centre 
of the plain, he raised a cry that drew his companions in a body 
to. the spot. The young warrior had halted over a group of 
females who lay in a cluster, a confused mass of dead. Not- 
withstanding the revolting horror of the exhibition, Munro and 
Heyward flew towards the festering heap, endeavoring, with a 
love that no unseemliness could extinguish, to discover whether 
any vestiges of those they sought were to be seen among the 
tattered and many-colored garments. The father and the 
lover found instant relief in the search ; though each was con- 
demned again to experience the misery of an uncertainty that 
was hardly less insupportable than the most revolting truth. 
They were standing, silent and thoughtful, around the melan- 
choly pile, when the scout approached. Eyeing the sad spec- 
tacle with an angry countenance, the sturdy woodsman, for' the 
first time since his entering the plain, spoke intelligibly and 
aloud — 

“ I have been on many a shocking field, and have followed a 

trail of blood for weary miles,” he said, “ but never have I found 

the hand of the devil so plain as it is here to be seen ! Revenge 

is an Indian feeling, and all who know me know that there is 
.® . . . • 
no cross in my veins ; but this much will I say — here, in the 

face of heaven, and with the power of the Lord so manifest in 

this howling wilderness, — that should these Frenchers ever trust 

themselves again within the range of a ragged bullet, there is 

one rifle shall play its part, so long as flint will fire or pow^der 

burn! — I leave the tomahawk and knife to such as have a 

natural gift to use them. What say you, Chingachgook,” he 

added in Delaware ; “ shall the Hurons boast of this to their 

women when the deep snow^s come ?” 

A dream of resentment flashed across the dark lineaments of 
the Mohican chief: he loosened his knife in his sheath; and 
then turning calmly from the sight, his countenance settled into 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


233 


a repose as deep as if lie never knew the instigation of 
passion. 

“ Montcalm ! Montcalm !” continued the deeply resentful and 
less self-restrained scout ; “ they say a time must come, when all 
the deeds done in the flesh will be seen at a sinofle look : and 
that by eyes cleared from mortal infirmities. Wo betide the 
wretch who is born to behold this plain, with the judgment 
hanmno; about his soul ! Ha — as I am a man of white blood, 
yonder lies a red-skin, without the hair of his head where 
nature rooted it ! Look to him, Delaware ; it may be one of 
your missing people ; and he should have burial like a stout 
warrior. I see it in your eye, Sagamore : a Huron pays for 
this, afore the fall winds have blown away the scent of the 
blood !” 

Chingachgook approached the mutilated form, and turning it 
over, he found the distinguishing marks of one of those six allied 
tribes, or nations, as they were called, who, while they fought 
in the English ranl^s, were so deadly hostile to his own people. 
Spurning the loathsome object with his foot, he turned from it 
with the same indifference he would have quitted a brute car- 
case. The scout comprehended the action, and very delibe- 
rately pursued his own way, continuing, however, his denuncia- 
tions against the French commander in the same resentful strain. 

“ Nothing but vast wisdom and onlimited piswer should dare 
to sweep off men in multitudes,” he added; “for it is only the 
one that can know the necessity of the judgment; and what is 
there short of the other that can replace the creatures of the 
Lord ? I hold it a sin to kill the second buck afore the first is 
eaten, unless a march in the front, or an ambushment, be contem- 
plated. It is a different matter with a few warriors in open and 
rugged fight, for ’tis their gift to die with the rifle or the toma- 
hawk in hand ; according as their natures may happen to be, 
white or red. Uncas,-come this way, lad, and let the ravens 
settle upon the Mingo. I know, from often seeing it, that they 
have a craving for the flesh of an Oneida ; and it is as well to 
let the bird follow the gift of its natural appetite.” 


234 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

“ Ilugli !” exclaimed the young Mohican, rising on the ex- 
tremities of his feet, and gazing intently in his front, frighten- 
ing the raven to some other prey, by the sound and the action. 

“ What is it, boy ?” whispered the scout, lowering his tall 
form into a crouching attitude, like a panther about to take his 
leap ; “ God send it be a tardy Frencher, skulking for plunder. 
I do believe ‘Kill-deer’ would take an oncommon range to-day f’ 

Uncas, without making any reply, bounded away from tbTe 
spot, and in the next instant he was seen tearing fi'om a bush, 
and waving in triumph, a fragment of the green riding veil 
of Cora. The movement, the exhibition, and the cry, which 
again burst from the lips of the young Mohican, instantly drew 
the whole party about him. 

“ My child !” said Munro, speaking quick and wildly ; “ give 
me my child !” 

“ Uncas w'ill try,” w'as the short and touching answer. 

The simple but meaning assurance w^as dost on the father, 
who seized the piece of gauze, and crushed it in his hand, while 
his eyes roamed fearfully among the bushes, as if he equally 
dreaded and hoped for the secrets they might reveal. 

“ Here are no dead,” said Heyward ; “ the storm seems not to 
have passed this way.” 

“ That’s manifest ; and clearer than the heavens above our 
heads,” returned the undisturbed scout ; “ but either she, or 
they that have robbed her, have passed the bush ; for I remem- 
ber the rag she wore to hide a face that all did love to look 
upon. Uncas, you are right ; the dark-hair has been here, and 
she has fled, like a frighted fawn, to the wood ; none who could 
fly would remain to be murdered. Let us search for the marks 
she left ; for to Indian eyes, I sometimes think even a hum- 
ming-bird leaves his trail in the air.” 

The young Mohican darted away at the suggestion, and the 
scout had hardly done speaking, before the former raised a cry 
of success from the margin of the forest. On reaching the spot, 
the anxious party perceived another portion of the veil fluttering 
on the lower branch of a beech. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


235 


“ Softly, softly,” said the scout, extending his long rifle in 
front of the eager Heyward ; “ we now know our work, but the 
beauty of the trail must not be deformed. A step too soon may 
give us hours of trouble. We have them though ; that much 
is beyond denial.” 

“ Bless ye, bless ye, worthy man !” exclaimed Munro ; 
“ whither, then, have they fled, and where are my babes ?” 

“ The path they have taken depends on many chances. If 
they have gone alone, they are quite as likely to move in a 
circle as sti-aight, and they may be within a dozen miles of us ; 
but if the Hurons, or any of the French Indians, have laid 
hands on them, ’tis probable they are now near the borders of 
the Canadas. But what matters that ?” continued the deliberate 
scout, observing the powerful anxiety and disappointment the 
listeners exhibited ; “ here are the Mohicans and I on one end 
of the trail, and, rely on it, we find the other, though they 
should be a hundred leagues asunder ! Gently, gently, Uncas, 
you are as impatient as a man in the settlements ; you forget 
that light feet leave "but faint marks !” 

“ Hugh !” exclaimed Chingachgook, who had been occupied 
in examining an opening that had been evidently made through 
the low underbrush, which skirted the forest ; and who now 
stood erect, as he pointed downwards, in the attitude and with 
the air of a man who beheld a disgusting serpept. 

“ Here is the palpable impression of the footstep of a man,” 
cried Heyward, bending over the indicated spot : “ he has trod 
in the margin of this pool, and the mark cannot be mistaken. 
They are captives.” 

“ Better so than left to starve in the wilderness,” returned the 
scout ; “ and they will leave a wider trail. I would wager fifty 
beaver skins against as many flints, that the Mohicans and I 
enter their wigwams within the month ! Stoop to it, Uncas, and 
try what you can make of the moccasin ; for moccasin it plainly 
is, and no shoe.” 

The young Mohican bent over the track, and removing the 
scattered leaves from around the place, he examined it with 


230 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


much of that sort of scrutiny, that a money-dealer, in these days 
of pecuniary doubts, would bestow on a susj^ected due-bill. At 
length, he arose from his knees, satisfied with the result of the 
examination. 

“ Well, boy,” demanded the attentive scout, “ what does it 
say ? can you make anything of the tell-tale ?” 

“ Le Renard Subtil !” 

“ Ha ! that rampaging devil again ! there never will bo 
an end of his loping, till ‘ Kill-deer’ has said a fri-endly word to 
him.” 

Heyward reluctantly admitted the truth of this intelli- 
gence, and now expressed rather his hopes than his doubts by 
saying — 

“ One moccasin is so much like another, it is probable there 
is some mistake.” 

“ One moccasin like another ! you may as well say that one 
foot is like another ; though we all know that some are long, 
and others short ; some broad, and others narrow ; some with 
high, and some with low, insteps ; some in-toed, and some out. 
One moccasin is no more like another than one book is like 
another ; though they who can read in one are seldom able to 
tell the marks of the other. Which is all ordered for the best, 
giving to every man his natural advantages. Let me get down 
to it, Uncas ; neither book nor moccasin is the worse for having 
two opinions, instead of one.” The scout stooped to the task, 
and instantly added, “ You are right, boy ; here is the patch we 
saw so often in the other chase. And the fellow will drink 
when he can get an opportunity : your drinking Indian always 
learns to walk with a wider toe than the natural savage, it being 
the gift of a drunkard to straddle, whether of white or red skin. 
’Tis just the length and breadth too ! look at it. Sagamore : you 
measured the prints more than once, when we hunted the var- 
ments from Glenn’s to the health-springs.” 

Chingachgook complied ; and after finishing his short exami- 
nation, he arose, and with a quiet demeanor, he merely pro- 
nounced the word — 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


237 


“Magua.” 

“ Ay, ’tis a settled thing ; here then have passed the daik- 
liair and Magua.” 

“ And not Alice ?” demanded Heyward. 

“ Of hei we have not yet seen the signs,” returned the scout, 
looking closely around at the trees, the bushes, and the ground. 
“ What have we there ? Uncas, bring hither the thing you see 
dangling from yonder thorn-bush.” 

When the Indian had complied, the scout received the prize, 
and holding it on high, he laughed in his silent but heartfelt 
manner. 

“ ’Tis the tooting we’pon of the singer ! now we shall have a 
trail a priest might travel,” he said. “ Uncas, look for the 
marks of a shoe that is long enough to uphold six feet two of 
tottering human flesh. I begin to have some hopes of the fel- 
low, since he has given up squalling to follow some better 
trade.” 

“ At least, he has been faithful to his trust,” said Heyward ; 
“ and Cora and Alice are not without a friend.” 

“ Yes,” said Hawk-eye, dropping his rifle, and leaning on it 
with an air of visible contempt, “ he will do their singing ! Can 
he slay a buck for their dinner ; journey by the moss on the 
beeches, or cut the throat of a Huron ? If not, the<arst cat-bird"^* 
he meets is the cleverest of the two. Well, boy, any signs of such 
a foundation ?” 

“ Here is something like the footstep of one who has worn a 
shoe ; can it be that of our friend ?” 

“ Touch the leaves lightly, or you’ll disconsart the formation. 
That ! that is the print of a foot, but ’tis the dark-hair’s ; and 
small it is, too, for one of such a noble height and grand ap- 
pearance. The singer would cover it with his heel.” 

* The powers of the American mocking-bird are generally known. But the true 
mocking-bird is not found so far north as the State of New York, where it has, 
however, two substitutes of inferior excellence; the cat-bird, so often named by 
the scout, and the bird vulgarly called ground-thresber. Either of these two last 
birds is superior to the nightingale, or the lark, though, in general, the American 
birds are less musical than those of Europe. 


238 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

“ Where ! let me look on the footsteps of my child,” said 
Munro, shoving the bushes aside, and bending fondly over the 
nearly obliterated impression. Though the tread, which had 
left the mark, had been light and rapid, it was still plainly 
visible. The aged soldier examined it with eyes that grew dim 
as he gazed; nor did he rise from his stooping posture until 
Heyward saw that he had watered the trace of his daughter’s 
passage with a scalding tear. Willing to divert a distress 
which- threatened each moment to break through the restraint 
of appearances, by giving the veteran something to do, the 
young man said to the scout — 

“ As we now possess these infallible signs, let us commence 
our march. A moment, at such a time, will appear an age to 
the captives.” 

f “It is not the swiftest leaping deer that gives the longest 

chase,” returned Hawk-eye, without moving his eyes from the 
different marks that had come under his view ; “ we know that 
the rampaging Huron has passed — and the dark hair — and the 
singer — but where is she of the yellow locks and blue eyes ? 
Though little, and far from being as bold as her sister, she is 
fair to the view, and jdeasant in discourse. Has she no friend, 
that none care for her ?” 

“ God forbid she should ever want hundreds ! Are we not 
now in her pursuit ? for one, I will never cease the search till 
she be found.” 

“ In that case we may have to journey by different paths ; 
for here she has not passed, light and little as her footstep 
would be.” 

Heyward drew back, all his ardor to proceed seeming to 
vanish on the instant. Without attending to this sudden 
change in the other’s humor, the scout, after musing a moment, 
continued — 

“ There is no woman in this wilderness could leave such a 
print as that, but the dark-hair or her sister. We know that 
the first has been here, but where are the signs of the other 1 
Let us push deeper on the trail, and if nothing ofifers, we must 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


289 


go back to the plain and strike another scent. Move on, Uncas, 
and keep your eyes on the dried leaves. I will w'atch the 
bushes, while your father shall run with a low nose to the 
ground. Move on, friends ; the sun is getting behind the 
hills.” 

“ Is there nothing that I can do ?” demanded the anxious 
Heyward. 

“ You ! ” repeated the scout, who, with his red friends, was 
already advancing in the order he had prescribed ; “ yes, you 
can keep in our rear, and be careful not to cross the trail.” 

Before they had proceeded many rods, the Indians stopped, 
and appeared . to gaze at some signs on the earth, with more 
than their usual keenness. Both father and son spoke quick 
and loud, now looking at the object of their mutual admira- 
tion, and now regarding each other with the most unequivocal 
pleasure. 

“ They have found the little foot ! ” exclaimed the scout, 
moving forward, without attending further to his own portion 
of the duty. “ What have we here ? An ambushment has 
been planted in the spot ! No, by the truest rifle on the fron- 
tiers, here have been them one-sided horses again ! Now the 
whole secret is out, and all is plain as the north star at mid- 
night. Yes, here they have mounted. There the beasts have 
been bound to a sapling, in waiting ; and yonder runs the 
broad path away to the north, in full sweep for the Canadas.” 

“ But still there are no signs of Alice — of the younger Miss 
Munro,” — said Duncan. 

“ Unless the shining bauble Uncas has just lifted from the 
ground should prove one. Pass it this way, lad, that we may 
look at it.” 

Heyward instantly knew it for a trinket that Alice was fond 
of wearing, and which he recollected, with the tenacious memory 
of a lover, to have seen, on the fatal morning of the massacre, 
dangling from the fliir neck of his mistre.ss. He seized the 
highly prized jewel ; and as he proclaimed the fact, it vanished 
from the eyes of the wondering scout, who in vain looked for it 


240 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


on the ground, long after it was warmly pressed against the 
beating heart of Duncan. 

“ Pshaw !” said the disappointed Hawk-eye, ceasing to rake 
the leaves with the breech of his rifle ; “ ’tis a certain sign of 
age, when the sight begins to weaken. Such a glittering gew- 
gaw, and not to be seen ! Well, well, I can squint along a 
clouded barrel yet, and that is enough to settle all disputes 
between me and the Mingoes. I should like to find the thing 
too, if it were only to carry it to the right owner, and that would 
be bringing the two ends of what I call a long trail together — 
for by this time the broad St. Lawrence, or, perhaps, the Great 
Lakes, themselves, are atwixt us.” 

“ So much the more reason why we should not delay our 
march,” returned Heyward ; “ let us proceed.” 

“Young blood and hot blood, they say, are much the same 
thing. AVe are not about to start on a squirrel hunt, or to drive 
a deer into the Horican, but to outlie for days and nights, and 
to stretch across a wilderness where the feet of men seldom 2:0, 
and where no bookish knowledge would carry you through 
harmless. An Indian never starts on such an expedition with- 
out smoking over his council fire ; and though a man of white 
blood, I honor their customs in this particular, seeing that they 
are deliberate and wise. AYe will, therefore, go back, and light 
our fire to-night in the ruins of the old fort, and in the morning 
we shall be fresh, and ready to undertake our work like men, 
and not like babbling women or eager boys.” 

Heyward saw, by the manner of the scout, that altercation 
would be useless. Munro had again sunk into that sort of 
apathy which had beset him since his late overwhelming mis- 
fortunes, and from which he was apparently to be roused only 
by some new and powerful excitement. Making a merit of 
necessity, the young man took the veteran by the arm, and fol- 
lowed in the footsteps of the Indians and the scout, who had 
already begun to retrace the path which conducted them to the 
plain. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


241 


CHAPTER XIX. 

Salar. Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his flesh ; what’.s that 
good for. 

To bait fish withal; if it will feed nothing else, it will feed my re- 
venge. Shakspkare. 

The shades of evening had come to increase the dreariness of 
the place, when the party entered the ruins of William Henry. 
The scout and his companions immediately made their prepa- 
rations to pass the night there ; but with an earnestness and 
sobriety of demeanor, that betrayed how much the unusual 
horrors they had just witnessed worked on even their practised 
feelings. A few fragments of rafters were reared against a 
blackened wall ; and when Uncas had covered them slightly 
with brush, the temporary accommodations were deemed suffi- 
cient. The young Indian pointed towards his rude hut, when 
his labor was ended ; and Heyward, who understood the mean- 
ing of the silent gesture, gently urged Munro to enter. Leaving 
the bereaved old man alone with his sorrows, Duncan imme- 
diately returned into the open air, too much excited himself to 
seek the repose he had recommended to his veteran friend. 

While Hawk-eye and the Indians lighted their fire, and took 
their evening’s repast, a frugal meal of dried bear’s meat, the 
young man paid a visit to that curtain of the dilapidated fort 
which looked out on the sheet of the Horican. The wind had 
fallen, and the waves were already rolling on the sandy beach 
beneath him, in a more regular and tempered succession. The 
clouds, as if tired of their furious chase, were breaking asunder; 
the heavier volumes, gathering in black masses about the 
horizon, while the lighter scud still hurried above the water, or 
eddied among the tops of the mountains, like broken flights of 
birds, hovering around their roosts. Here and there, a red and 
, fiery star struggled through the drifting vapor, furnishing a 

11 


242 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


lurid gleam of brightness to the dull aspect of the heavens. 
Within the bosom of the encircling hills, an impenetrable dark- 
ness had ah’eady settled ; and the plain lay like a vast and 
deserted charnel-house, without omen or whisper to disturb the 
slumbers of its numerous and hapless tenants. 

Of this scene, so chillingly in accordance with the past, Dun- 
can stood for many minutes a rapt observer. His eyes wan- 
dered from the bosom of the mound, where the foresters were 
seated around their glimmering fire, to the fiiinter light which 
still lingered in the skies, and then rested long and anxiously 
on the embodied gloom, which lay like a dreary void on that 
side of him where the dead reposed. He soon fancied that in- 
explicable sounds arose from the place, though so indistinct and 
stolen, as to render not only their nature but even their exist- 
ence uncertain. Ashamed of his apprehensions the young man 
turned towards the water, and strove to divert his attention to 
the mimic stars that dimly grimmered on its moving surface. 
Still, his too conscious ears performed their ungrateful duty, 
as if to warn him of some lurking danger. At length a swift 
trampling seemed, quite audibly, to rush athwart the darkness. 
Unable any longer to quiet his uneasiness, Duncan spoke in a 
low voice to the scout, requesting him to ascend the mound to 
the place where he stood. Hawk eye threw his rifle across an 
arm, and complied, but with an air so unmoved and calm, as to 
prove how much he counted on the security of their position. 

“ Listen,” said Duncan, when the other placed himself deli- 
berately at his elbow : “ there are suppressed noises on the plain 
which may show that Montcalm has not yet entirely deserted 
his conquest.” 

“ Then ears are better than eyes,” said the undisturbed scout, 
who having just deposited a portion of a bear between his 
grinders, spoke thick and slow, like one whose mouth was 
doubly occupied. “ I, myself, saw him caged in Ty, with all 
his host ; for your Trenchers, when they have done a clever 
thing, like to get back, and have a dance, or a merry-making, 
with the women over their success.” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


243 


“ I know not. An Indian seldom sleeps in war, and idIiju- 
der may keep a Huron here, after his tribe has departed. It 
would be well to extinguish the fire, and have a watch — Listen ! 
you hear the noise I mean !” 

“An Indian more rarely lurks about the graves. Though 
read}^ to slay, and not over regardful of the means, he is com- 
monly content with the scalp, unless when blood is hot, and 
temper up; but after the spirit is once fairly gone, he forgets his 
enmity, and is willing to let the dead find their natural rest. 
Speaking of spirits. Major, are you of opinion that the heaven 
of a red-skin and of us whites will be one and the same ?” 

“No doubt — no doubt. I thought I heard it again ! or was 
it the rustling of the leaves in the top of the beech ?” 

“ For my own part,” continued Hawk-eye, turning his face, 
for a moment, in the direction indicated by Heyward, but with 
a vacant and careless manner, “ I believe that paradise is 
ordained for happiness ; and that men will be indulged in it 
according to their dispositions and gifts. I therefore judge 
that a red-skin is not far from the truth when he believes he is 
to find them glorious hunting grounds of which his traditions 
tell ; nor, for that matter, do I think it would be any disparage- 
ment to a man without a cross to pass his time — ” 

“ You hear it again ?” interrupted Duncan. 

“Ay, ay; when food is scarce, and when food is plenty, a 
wolf grows bold,” said the unmoved scout. “ There would be 
picking, too, among the skins of the devils, if there was light 
and time for the sport. But, concerning the life that is to 
come. Major : I have heard preachers say, in the settlements, 
that Heaven was a place of rest. Now men’s minds differ as 
to their ideas of enjoyment. For myself, and I say it with 
reverence to the ordering of Providence, it would be no great 
indulgence to be kept shut up in those mansions of which 
they preach, having a natural longing for motion and the 
chase.” 

Duncan, who was now made to understand the nature of the 
noises he had heard, answered, with more attention to the sulv 


244 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


ject which the humor of the scout had chosen for discussion, by 
saying — 

“ It is difficult to account for the feelings that may attend the 
last great change.” 

“It would be a change, indeed, for a man who has passed 
his days in the open air,” returned the single-minded scout ; 

“ and who has so often broken his fast on the head waters of 
the Hudson, to sleep within sound of the roaring Mohawk. 

But it is a comfort to know we serve a merciful Master, though 
we do it each after his fashion, and with great tracts of wilder- 
ness atween us — What goes there ?” 

“ Is it not the rushing of the wolves you have mentioned ?” 

Hawk-eye slowly shook his head, and beckoned for Duncan to 
follow him to a spot, to which the glare from the fire did not 
extend. When he had taken this precaution, the scout placed 
himself in an attitude of intense attention, and listened lono* 
and keenly for a repetition of the low sound that had so unex- 
pectedly startled him. His vigilance, however, seemed exer- 
cised in vain ; for, after a fruitless pause, he whispered to Dun- 
can — k 

“We must give a call to Uncas. The boy has Indian senses, 
and may hear what is hid from us ; for being a white-skin, I 
will not deny my nature.” 

The young Mohican, who was conversing in a low voice with 
his father, started as he heard the moaning of an owl, and 
springing on his feet, he looked towards the black mounds, 
as if seeking the place whence the sounds proceeded. The 
scout repeated the call, and in a few moments, Duncan saw the 
figure of Uncas stealing cautiously along the rampart, to the 
spot where they stood. 

Hawk-eye explained his wishes in a very few words, which 
were spoken in the Delaware tongue. So soon as Uncas was 
in possession of the reason why he was summoned, he threw 
himself flat on the turf; where, to the eyes of Duncan, he ap* 
peared to lie quiet and motionless. Surprised at the immov- 
able attitude of the young warrior, and curious to observe the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


245 


manner in which he employed his faculties to obtain the de- 
sired information, Heyward advanced a few steps, and bent 
over the dark object, on which he had kept his eyes riveted. 
Then it was he discovered that the form of Uncas had vanish- 
ed, and that he beheld only the dark outline of an inequality in 
the embankment. 

“ What has become of the Mohican ?” he demanded of the 
scout, stepping back in amazement : “ it was here that I saw 
him fall, and I could have sworn that here he yet remained.” 

“ Hist ! speak lower ; for we know not what ears are open, 
and the Mingoes are a quick-witted breed. As for Uncas, he is 
out on the plain, and the Maquas, if any such are about us, 
will find their equal.” 

“ You think that Montcalm has not called off all his Indians ? 
Let us give the alarm to our companions, that we may stand 
to our arms. Here are five of us, who are not unused to meet 
an enemy.” 

“ Not a word to either, as you value life. Look at the Saga- 
more, how like a grand Indian chief he sits by the fire. If 
there are any skulkers out in the darkness, they will never dis- 
cover, by his countenance, that we suspect danger at hand.” 

“ But they may discover him, and it will prove his death. 
His person can be too plainly seen by the light of that fire, and 
he will become the first and most certain victim.” , 

“ It is undeniable that now you speak the truth,” returned 
the scout, betraying more anxiety than was usual ; “ yet what 
can be done ? A single suspicious look might bring on an 
attack before we are ready to receive it. He knows, by the call I 
gave to Uncas, that we have struck a scent : I will tell him that 
we are on the trail of the Mingoes ; his Indian nature will teach 
him how to act.” 

The scout applied his fingers to his mouth, and raised a low 
hissing sound, -that caused Duncan, at first, to start aside, be- 
lieving that he heard a serpent. The head of Chingachgook 
was resting on a hand, as he sat musing by himself; but the 
moment he heard the warning of the animal whose name he bore. 


246 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

it arose to an upright position, and his dark eyes glanced swift- 
ly and keenly on every side of him. With this sudden and 
perhaps involuntary movement, every appearance of surprise or 
alarm ended. His rifle lay untouched, and apparently unnotic- 
ed, within reach of his hand. The tomahawk that he had loos- 
ened in his belt for the sake of ease, was even suffered to fall 
from its usual situation to the ground, and his form seemed to 
sink, like that of a man whose nerves and sinews were suffered 
to relax for the purpose of rest. Cunningly resuming his for- 
mer position, though with a change of hands, as if the move- 
ment had been made, merely to relieve the limb, the native 
awaited the result with a calmness and fortitude that none but 
an Indian warrior would have known how to exercise. 

But Heyward saw, that while to a less instructed eye the 
Mohican chief appeared to slumber, his nostrils were expanded, 
his head was turned a little to one side, as if to assist the organs 
of hearing, and that his quick and rapid glances ran incessantly 
over every object, within the power of his vision. 

“ See the noble fellow ! ” whispered Hawk-eye, pressing the 
arm of Heyward ; “ he knows that a look or a motion might 
disconsart our schemes, and put us at the mercy of them 
imps — 

He was interrupted by the flash and report of a rifle. The 
air was filled with sparks of fire, around that spot where the 
eyes of Heyward were still fastened, with admiration and won- 
der. A second look told him, that Chingachgook had disap- 
peared in the confusion. In the meantime, the scout had 
thrown forward his rifle, like one prepared for service, and 
awaited impatiently the moment when an enemy might rise 
to view. But w'ith the solitary and fruitless attempt made on 
the life of Chingachgook, the attack appeared to have termi- 
nated. Once or twice the listeners thought they could distin- 
guish the distant rustling of bushes, as bodies of some unknown 
description rushed through them ; nor was it long before 
Hawk-eye pointed out the “ scampering of the wolves,” as they 
fled precipitately before the passage of some intruder on their 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


247 


proper domains. After an impatient and breathless pause, a 
plunge was heard in the water, and it was immediately followed 
by the report of another rifle. 

“There goes Uncas!” said the scout: “the boy bears a 
smart piece ! I know its crack, as well as a father knows the 
language of his child, for I carried the gun myself until a better 
offered.” 

“ What can this mean ? ” demanded Duncan : “ we are 
watched, and, as it would seem, marked for destruction.” 

“Yonder scattered brand can witness that no good was 
intended, and this Indian will testify that no harm has been 
done,” returned the scout, dropping his rifle across his arm 
again, and following Chingachgook, who just then re-appeared 
within the circle of light, into the bosom of the works. “ How 
is it. Sagamore ? Are the Mingoes upon us in earnest, or is it 
only one of those reptiles who hang upon the skirts of a war 
party, to scalp the dead, go in, and make their boast among the 
squaws of the valiant deeds done on the pale-faces ? ” 

Chingachgook very quietly resumed his seat ; nor did ho 
make any reply, until after he had examined the firebrand 
which had been struck by the bullet, that had nearly proved 
fatal to himself. After which, he was content to reply, holding 
a single finger up to view, with the English monosyllable — 

“One.” 

“ I thought as much,” returned Hawk-eye, seating himself ; 
“ and as he had got the cover of the lake afore Uncas pulled 
upon him, it is more than probable the knave will sing his lies 
about some great ambushment, in which he was outlying on 
the trail of two Mohicans and a white hunter — for the officers 
can be considered as little better than idlers in such a skrim- 
mage. Well, let him — let him. There are always some honest 
men in ever)" nation, though heaven knows, too, that they are 
scarce among the Maquas, to look down an upstart when ho 
brags ag’in the face of reason. The varlet sent his lead within 
whistle of your ears. Sagamore.” 

Chingachgook turned a calm and incurious eye towards the 


248 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


place where the ball had struck, and then resumed his former 
attitude, with a composure that could not be disturbed by so 
trifling an incident. Just then Uncas glided into the circle, 
and seated himself at the fire, with the same appearance of 
indifference as was maintained by his father. 

Of these several movements Heyward was a deeply interested 
and wondering observer. It appeared to him as though the 
foresters had some secret means of intelligence, which had 
escaped the vigilance of his own faculties. In place of that 
eager and garrulous narration with which a white youth would 
have endeavored to communicate, and perhaps exaggerate, that 
which had passed out in the darkness of the plain, the young 
warrior was seemingly content to let his deeds speak for 
themselves. It was, in fact, neither the moment nor the 
occasion for an Indian to boast of his exploits ; and it is 
probable, that had Heyward neglected to inquire, not another 
syllable would, just then, have been uttered on the subject. 

“ What has become of our enemy, Uncas ?” demanded 
Duncan : “ we heard your rifle, and hoped you had not fired in 
vain.” 

The yoang chief removed a fold of his hunting shirt, and 
quietly exposed the fatal tuft of hair, which he bore as the sym- 
bol of victory. Chingachgook laid his hand on the scalp, and 
considered it for a moment with deep attention. Then dropping 
it, with disgust depicted in his strong features, he ejaculated — 

“ Oneida !” 

“ Oneida !” repeated the scout, who Avas fast losing his inte- 
rest in the scene, in an apathy nearly assimilated to that of his 
red associates, but who now advanced with uncommon earnest- 
ness to regard the bloody badge. “By the Lord, if the 
Oneidas are outlying upon the trail, we shall be flanked by 
devils on every side of us ! Now, to white eyes there is no differ- 
ence between this bit of skin and that of any other Indian, and 
yet the Sagamore declares it came from the poll of a Mingo ; 
nay, he even names the tribe of the poor devil with as much 
ease as if the scalp was the leaf of a book, and each hair a 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


249 


letter. What right have Christian whites to boast of their 
learning, when a savage can read a language that would prove 
too much for the wisest of them all ! What say you^ lad ; of 
what people was the knave ?” 

Uncas raised his eyes to the face of the scout, and answered^ 
in his soft voice — 

“ Oneida.” 

“ Oneida, again ! when one Indian makes a declaration it is 
commonly true ; but when he is supported by his people, set it 
down as gospel !” 

“ The jioor fellow has mistaken us for French,” said Heyward ; 
“ or he would not have attempted the life of a. friend.” 

“ He mistake a Mohican in his paint for a Huron ! You 
would be as likely to mistake the white-coated grenadiers of 
Montcalm for the scarlet jackets of the ‘ Royal Americans,’ ” 
returned the scout. “Ho, no, the sarpent knew his errand; 
nor was there any great mistake in the matter, for there is but 
little love atween a Delaware and a Mingo, let their tribes go 
out to fight for whom they may, in a white quarrel. For that 
matter, though the Oneidas do serve his sacred Majesty, who is 
my own sovereign lord and master, I should not have delibe- 
rated long about letting off ‘ Kill-deer ’ at the imp myself, had 
luck thrown him in my way.” ^ 

“ That would have been an abuse of our treaties, and 
unworthy of your character.” 

“WTien a man consorts much with a people,” continued 
Hawk-eye, “ if they are honest and he no knave, love will grow 
up atwixt them. It is true that white cunning has managed to 
throw the tribes into great confusion, as respects friends and 
enemies ; so that the Hurons and the Oneidas, who speak the 
same tongue, or what may be called the same, take each other’s 
scalps, and the Delawares are divided among themselves ; a few 
hanging about their great council fire on their own river, and 
fighting on the same side with the Mingoes, while the greater 
part are in the Canadas, out of natural enmity to the Maquas— 
thus throwing everything into disorder, and destroying all the 

11 ^ 


250 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


harmony of warfare. Yet a red natur’ is not likely to alter with 
every shift of policy ; so that the love atwixt a Mohican and a 
Mingo is much like the regard between a white man and a 
sarpent.” 

“ I reofret to hear it : for I had believed those natives who 
dwelt within our boundaries had found us too just and liberal, 
not to identify themselves fully with our quarrels.” 

“ Why, I believe it is natur’ to give a preference to one’s own 
quarrels before those of strangers. Now, for myself, I do love 
justice ; and therefore I will not say I hate a Mingo, — for that 
may be unsuitable to my color and my religion, — though I 
will just repeat, it may have been owing to the night that ‘ Kill- 
deer’ had no hand in the death of this skulking Oneida.” 

Then, as if satisfied with the force of his own reasons, what- 
ever might be their effect on the opinions of the other disputant, 
the honest but implacable woodsman turned from the fire, 
content to let the controversy slumber. Heyward withdrew to 
the rampart, too uneasy and too little accustomed to the warfare 
of the woods, to remain at ease under the possibility of such 
insidious attacks. Not so, however, with the scout and the 
Mohicans. Those acute and long practised senses, whose pow- 
ers so often exceed the limits of all ordinary credulity, after 
having detected the danger, had enabled them to ascertain its 
magnitude and duration. Not one of the three appeared in the 
least to doubt their perfect security, as was indicated by the 
preparations that w^ere soon made to sit in council over their 
future proceedings. 

The confusion of nations, and even of tribes, to which Hawk- 
eye alluded, existed at that period in the fullest force. The 
great tie of language, and, of course, of a common origin, was 
severed in many places ; and it was one of its consequences, 
that the Delaware and the Mingo (as the people of the Six 
Nations were called) were found fighting in the same rautvs, 
while the latter sought the scalp of the Huron, though believed 
to be the root of his own stock. The Delawares were even 
divided among themselves. Though love for the soil which had 


THE LAST OE THE MOHICANS. 251 

belonged to his ancestors kept the Sagamore of the Mohicans 
with a small band of followers who were serving at Edward, 
under the banners of the English king, by far the largest portion 
of his nation were known to be in the field as allies of Montcalm. 
The reader probably knows, if enough has not already been 
gleaned from this narrative, that the Delaware, or Lenape, 
claimed to be the progenitors of that numerous people, who once 
were masters of most of the eastern and northern states of 
America, of wdiom the community of the Mohicans was an 
ancient and highly honored member. 

It was, of course, with a perfect understanding of the minute 
and intricate interests which had armed friend against friend, 
and brought natural enemies to combat by each other’s side, 
that the scout and his companions now disposed themselves to 
deliberate on the measures that were to govern their future 
movements, amid so many jarring and savage races of men. 
Duncan knew enough of Indian customs to understand the 
reason that the fire was replenished, and why the warriors, not 
excepting Hawk-eye, took their seats within the curl of its 
smoke with so much gravity and decorum. Placing himself at 
an angle of the works, where he might be a spectator of the 
scene within, while he kept a watchful eye against any danger 
from without, he awaited the result with as much patience as he 
could summon. 

After a short and impressive pause, Chingachgook lighted a 
pipe whose bowl was curiously carved in one of the soft stones 
of the country, and whose stem was a tube of wood, and com- 
menced smoking. When he had inhaled enough of the 
fragrance of the soothing weed, he passed the instrument into 
the hands of the scout. In this manner the pipe had made its 
rounds three several times, amid the most profound silence, 
before either of the party opened his lips. Then the Sagamore, 
a the oldest and highest in rank, in a few calm and dignified 
words, proposed the subject for deliberation. He was answered 
by the scout ; and Chingachgook rejoined, when the other 
objected to his opinions. But the youthful Uncas continued 


262 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


a silent and respectful listener, until Hawk-eye, in complaisance, 
demanded liis opinion. Heyward gathered from tlie manners 
of the different speakers, that the father and son espoused one 
side of a disputed question, while the white man maintained 
the other. The contest gradually grew warmer until it was 
quite evident the feelings of the speakers began to be somewhat 
enlisted in the debate. 

Notwithstanding the increasing warmth of the amicable 
contest, the most decorous Christian assembly, not even 
excepting those in which its reverend ministers are collected, 
might have learned a wholesome lesson of moderation from the 
forbearance and courtesy of the disputants. The words of Uncaf* 
were received with the same deep attention as those which fell 
from the maturer wisdom of his father; and so far from 
manifesting any impatience, neither spoke in reply, until a few 
moments of silent meditation were, seemingly, bestowed in 
deliberating on what had already been said. 

The language of the Mohicans was accompanied by gestures 
so direct and natural, that Heyward had but little difficulty in 
following the thread of their argument. On the other hand, 
the scout was obscure ; because, from the lingering pride of 
color, he rather affected the cold and artificial manner which 
characterizes all classes of Anglo-x\mericans, when unexcited. 
By the frequency with which the Indians described the marks 
of a forest trail, it was evident they urged a pursuit by land, 
while the repeated sweep of Hawk-eye’s arm towards the Horican 
denoted that he was for a passage across its waters. 

The latter was, to every appearance, fast losing ground, and 
the point was about to be decided against him, when he arose 
to his feet, and shaking off his apathy, he suddenly assumed 
the manner of an Indian, and adopted all the arts of native 
eloquence. Elevating an arm, he pointed out the track of the 
sun, repeating the gesture for every day that was necessary to 
accomplish their object. Then he delineated a long and pain- 
ful path, amid rocks and watercourses. The age and weakness 
of the slumbering and unconscious Munro were indicated by 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 253 

signs too palpable to be mistaken. Duncan perceived that even 
his own powers were spoken lightly of, as the scout extended 
his palm, and mentioned him by the appellation of the “ Open 
Hand,” — a name his liberality had purchased of all the friendly 
tribes. Then came a representation of the light and graceful 
movements of a canoe, set in forcible contrast to the totterino’ 
steps of one enfeebled and tired. He concluded by pointing to 
the scalp of the Oneida, and apparently urging the necessity of 
their departing speedily, and in a manner that should leave 
no trail. 

The Mohicans listened gravely, and with countenances that 
reflected the sentiments of the speaker. Conviction gradually 
wrought its influence, and towards the close of Hawk-eye’s 
speech, his sentences were accompanied by the customary 
exclamation of commendation. In short, Uncas and his father 
became converts to his way of thinking, abandoning their own 
previously expressed opinions with a liberality and candor, that, 
had they been the representatives of some great and civilized 
people, would have infallibly worked their political ruin, by 
destroying, for ever, their reputation for consistency. 

The instant the matter in discussion was decided, the debate, 
and everything connected with it, except the result, appeared 
to be forgotten. Ilawk-eye, without looking round to read his 
triumph in applauding eyes, very composedly stretched his tall 
frame before the dying embers, and closed his own organs 
in sleep. 

Left now in a measure to themselves, the Mohicans, whose 
time had been so much devoted to the interests of others, seized 
the moment to devote some attention to themselves. Casting 
off, at once, the grave and austere demeanor of an Indian chief, 
Chingachgook commenced speaking to his son in the soft and 
playful tones of affection. Uncas gladly met the familiar air 
of his father; and before the hard breathing of the scout 
announced that he slept, a complete change was effected in the 
manner of his two associates. 

It is impossible to describe the music of their language, -while 


254 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


thus engaged in laughter and endearments, in such a way as to 
render it intelligible to those whose ears have never listened to 
its melody. The compass of their voices, particularly that of 
the youth, was wonderful, — extending from the deepest bass to 
tones that were even feminine in softness. The eyes of the 
father followed the plastic and ingenious movements of the son 
with open delight, and he never failed to smile in reply to the 
other’s contagious, but low laughter. While under the influence 
of these gentle and natural feelings, no trace of ferocity was to 
be seen in the softened features of the Sagamore. His figured 
panoply of death looked more like a disguise assumed in 
mockery, than a fierce annunciation of a desire to carry 
destruction and desolation in his footsteps. 

After an hour passed in the indulgence of their better 
feelings, Chingachgook abruptly announced his desire to sleep, 
by wrapping his head in his blanket, and stretching his form on 
the naked earth. The merriment of Uncas instantly ceased ; 
and carefully raking the coals in such a manner that they 
should impart their warmth to his father’s feet, the youth sought 
his own pillow among the ruins of the place. 

Imbibing renewed confidence from the security of these 
experienced foresters, Heyward soon imitated their example; 
and long before the night had turned, they who lay in the 
bosom of the ruined work, seemed to slumber as heavily as the 
unconscious multitude whose bones were already beginning to 
bleach on the surrounding plain. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


255 


CHAPTER XX. 


Land of Albania ! let me bend mine eyes 
On thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men ! 

CiiiLDE Harold. 

The heavens were still studded with stars, when Hawk-eye 
came to arouse the sleepers. Casting aside their cloaks, Munro 
and Heyward were on their feet, while the woodsman was still 
making his low calls, at the entrance of the rude shelter where 
they had passed the night. When they issued from beneath 
its concealment, they found the scout awaiting their appearance 
nigh by, and the only salutation between them was the signifi- 
cant gesture for silence, made by their sagacious leader. 

“ Think over your prayers,” he whispered, as they approached 
him ; “ for he, to whom you make them, knows all tongues ; 
that of the heart, as well as those of the mouth. But speak 
not a syllable ; it is rare for a white voice to pitch itself properly 
in the woods, as we have seen by the example of that miserable 
devil, the singer. Come,” he continued, turning tdwards a 
curtain of the works ; “ let us get into the ditch on this side, 
and be regardful to step on the stones and fragments of wood 
as you go.” 

His companions complied, though to two of them the reasons 
of this extraordinary precaution were yet a mystery. When 
they were in the low cavity that surrounded the earthen fort on 
three of its sides, they found the passage nearly choked by the 
ruins. With care and patience, however, they succeeded in 
V clambering after the scout, until they reached the sandy shore 
of the Horican. 

“ That’s a trail that nothing but a nose can follow,” said the 
satisfied scout, looking back along their difficult way ; “ grass is 


250 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


a treacherous carpet for a flying party to tread on, but wood 
and stone take no print from a moccasin. Had you worn your 
armed boots, there might, indeed, have been something to fear ; 
but with the deer-skin suitably prepared, a man may trust 
himself, generally, on rocks with safety. Shove in the canoe 
nigher to the land, Uncas ; this sand will take a stamp as easily 
as the butter of the Jarmans on the Moha\\k. -Softly, lad, 
softly ; it must not touch the beach, or the knaves will know 
by what road we have left the place.” 

The young man observed the precaution; and the scout, 
laying a board from the ruins to the canoe, made a sign for the 
two othcers to enter. When this was done, everything was 
studiously restored to its former disorder; and then Hawk-eye 
succeeded in reaching his little birchen vessel, without leaving 
behind him any of those marks which he appeared so much to 
dread. Heyward was silent, until the Indians had cautiously 
paddled the canoe some distance from the fort, and within the 
broad and dark shadow that fell from the eastern mountain, on 
the glassy surface of the lake ; then he demanded — 

“ What need have we for this stolen and hurried departure ?” 

“ If the blood of an Oneida could stain such a sheet of pure 
water as this we float on,” returned the scout, “your two eyes 
would answer your own question. Have you forgotten the 
skulking reptyle that Uncas slew?” 

“ By no means. But he was said to be alone, and dead 
men give no cause for fear.” 

“Ay, he was alone in his deviltry! but an Indian, whose 
tribe counts so many warriors, need seldom fear his blood will 
run, without the death-shriek coming speedily from some of his 
enemies.” 

“ But our presence — the authority of Colonel Munro would 
prove a sufficient protection against the anger of our allies, 
especially in a case where the wretch so well merited his hite. 
I trust in Heaven you have not deviated a single foot from the 
direct line of our course, with so slight a reason.” 

“ Do you tliink the bullet of that varlet’s rifle would have 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


257 


turned aside, tlioiigli his sacred Majesty the King had stood in 
its path ?” returned the stubborn scout. “ Why did not the 
grand Frencher, he who is captain-general of the Canadas, bury 
the tomahawks of the Hurons, if a word from a white can work 
so strongly on the natiir’ of an Indian 

The reply of Heyward was interrupted by a groan from 
Munro ; but after he had paused a moment, in deference to 
the sorrow of his aged friend, he resumed the subject. 

“ The Marquis of Montcalm can only settle that error with 
his God,” said the young man solemnly. 

“ Ay, ay, now there is reason in your words, for they are bot- 
tomed on religion and honesty. There is a vast dilference 
between throwing a regiment of whitecoats atwixt the tribes and 
the prisoners, and coaxing an angry savage to forget he carries 
a knife and a rifle, with words that must begin with calling him 
‘ your son.’ No, no,” continued the scout, looking back at the 
dim shore of William Henry, which was now fast receding, and 
laughing in his own silent but heartfelt manner ; “ I have put a 
trail of water atween us ; and unless the imps can make friends 
with the fishes, and hear who has paddled across their basin, 
this fine morning, we shall throw the length of the Horican 
behind us, before they have made up their minds which path to 
take.” V 

“ With foes in front, and foes in our rear, our journey is like 
to be one of danger.” 

“ Danger !” repeated Hawk-eye, calmly ; “ no, not absolutely 
of danger ; for, with vigilant ears and quick eyes, we can 
manage to keep a few hours ahead of the knaves ; or, if we 
must try the rifle, there are thi*ee of us who understand its gifts 
as well as any you can name on the boixlers. No, not of dan- 
ger ; but that we shall have what you may call a brisk push 
of it, is probable ; and it may happen, a brush, a skrimmage, or 
some such divarsion, but always where covers are good, and 
ammunition abundant.” 

It is possible that Heyward’s estimate of danger diffeied in 
some degree from that of the scout, for, instead of replying, 


258 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

lie now sat in silence, while the canoe glided over several miles 
of water. Just as the day dawned, they entered the narrows of 
the lake,^ and stole swiftly and cautiously among their num- 
berless little islands. It was by this road that Montcalm had 
retired with his army, and the adv<jnturers knew not but he 
had left some of his Indians in ambush, to protect the rear of 
his forces, and collect the stragglers. They, therefore, ap- 
proached the passage with the customary silence of their 
guarded habits. 

Chingachgook laid aside his paddle ; while Uncas and the 
scout uro-ed the light vessel through crooked and intricate chan- 
nels, where every foot that they advanced exposed them to the 
danger of some sudden rising on their progress. The eyes of 
the Sagamore moved warily from islet to islet, and copse to 
copse, as the canoe proceeded ; and when a clearer sheet of 
water permitted, his keen vision was bent along the bald 
rocks and impending forests, that frowned upon the narrow 
strait. 

Heyward, who was a doubly interested spectator, as well 
from the beauties of the place as from the apprehension natu- 
ral to his situation, was just believing that he had permitted the 
latter to be excited without sufficient reason, when the paddle 
ceased moving, in obedience to a signal from Chingachgook. 

“ Hugh !” exclaimed Uncas, nearly at the moment that the 


* The beauties of Lake George are well known to every American tourist. In 
the height of the mountains which surround it, and in artificial accessories, it is 
inferior to the finest of the Swiss and Italian lakes, while in outline and purity of 
water it is fully their equal ; and in the number and disposition of its isles and islets 
much superior to them all together. There are said to be some hundreds of islands 
in a sheet of water less than thirty miles long. The narrows which connect what 
may be called, in truth, two lakes, are crowded with islands to such a degree as to 
leave passages between them, frcjpiently of only a few feet in width. The lake, 
itself, varies in breadth from one to three miles. 

The state of New York is remarkable for the number and beauty of its lakes. ' 
One of its frontiers lies on the vast sheet of Ontario, while Champlain stretches 
nearly a hundred miles along another. Oneida, Cayuga, Canandaigua, Seneca, and 
George, are all lakes of thirty miles in length, while those of a size smaller are with- 
out number. On most of these lakes, there are now beautiful villages, and on many 
of them steam-boats. . ^ 


t . 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 259 

light tap his father had made on the side of the canoe notified 
them of the vicinity of danger. 

“ What now ?” asked the scout ; “ the lake is as smooth as if 
the winds had never blown, and I can see along its sheet for 
miles ; there is not so much as the black head of a loon 
dotting the water.” 

The Indian gravely raised his paddle, and pointed in the 
direction in which his own steady look w'as riveted. Duncan’s 
eyes followed the motion. A few rods in their front lay an- 
other of the low wooded islets, but it appeared as calm and 
peaceful as if its solitude had never been disturbed by the foot 
of man. 

“ I see nothing,” he said, “ but land and water ; and a lovely 
scene it is.” 

“Hist!” interrupted the scout. “Ay, Sagamore, there is 
always a reason for what you do. ’Tis but a shade, and yet it 
is not natural. You see the mist. Major, that is rising above 
the island ; you can’t call it a fog, for it is more hke a streak 
of thin cloud — ” 

“ It is vapour from the water.” 

“ That a child could tell. But what is the edging of blacker 
smoke that hangs along its lower side, and which you may 
trace down into the thicket of hazel 1 ’Tis from a ^re ; but 
one that, in my judgment, has been suffered to burn low.” 

“ Let us then push for the place, and relieve our doubts,” 
said the impatient Duncan ; “ the party must be small that can 
lie on such a bit of land.” 

“If you judge of Indian cunning by the rules you find in 
books, or by white sagacity, they will lead you astray, if not to 
your death,” returned Hawk-eye, examining the signs of the 
j^lace with that acuteness which distinguished him. “ If I may 
be permitted to speak in this matter, it will be to say, that we 
^have but two things to choose between : the one is, to return, 
and give up all thoughts of following the Hurons — ” 

“ Never I” exclaimed Heyward, in a voice far too loud for 
their circumstances. 


260 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ Well, well,” continued Hawk-eye, making a hasty sign to 
repress his impatience: “I am much of your mind myself; 
though I thought it becoming my experience to tell the whole. 
We must then make a push, and if the Indians or Frenchers 
are in the narrows, run the gauntlet through these toppling 
mountains. Is there reason in my words. Sagamore ?” 

The Indian made no other answer than by dropping his 
paddle into the water, and urging forward the canoe. As he 
held the office of directing its course, his resolution was suffi- 
ciently indicated by the movement. The whole party now 
plied their paddles N'igorously, and in a very few moments they 
had reached a point whence they might command an entire 
view of the northern shore of the island, the side that had 
hitherto been concealed. 

“There they are, by all the truth of signs,” whispered the 
scout ; “ two canoes and a smoke. The knaves haven’t yet got 
their eyes out of the mist, or we should hear the accursed 
whoop. Together, friends — we are leaving them, and are al- 
ready nearly out of whistle of a bullet.” 

The well known crack of a rifle, whose ball came skipping 
along the placid surface of the strait, and a shrill yell from the 
island, interrupted his speech, and announced that their pass- 
age was discovered. In another instant several savages were 
seen rushing into the canoes, which were soon dancing over 
the water, in pursuit. These fearful precursors of a coming 
struggle produced no change in the countenances and move- 
ments of his three guides, so far as Duncan could discover, ex- 
cept that the strokes of their paddles were longer and more 
in unison, and caused the little bark to spring forward like a 
creature possessing life and volition. 

“Hold them there. Sagamore,” said Hawk-eye, looking 
coolly backward over his left shoulder, while he still plied his 
paddle; “keep them just there. Them Hurons have never a 
piece in their nation that will execute at this distance ; but 
‘ Kill-deer’ has a barrel on which a man may calculate.” 

The scout having ascertained that the Mohicans were sufficient 


>0 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


261 


of themselves to maintain the requisite distance, deliberately laid 
aside his paddle, and raised the fatal rifle. Three several times 
he brought the piece to his shoulder, and when his companions 
were expecting its report, he as often lowered it to request the 
Indians would permit their enemies to approach a little nigher. 
At^Jgngth his accurate and fastidious eye seemed satisfied, and 
• throwing out his left arm on the barrel, he was slowly elevating 
the^Hiuzzle, when an exclamation from Uncas, who sat in the 
bow, once more caused him to suspend the shot. 

“ What now, lad ?” demanded Hawk-eye ; “ you saved a 
Huron from the death-shriek by that word ; have you reason 
for’ what you do ?” 

Uncas pointed towards the rocky shore a little in their front, 
whence another war canoe was darting directly across their 
course. It was too obvious now that their situation was immi- 
nently perilous, to need the aid of language to confirm it. The 
scout laid aside his rifle, and resumed the paddle, while 
Chingachgook inclined the bows of the canoe a little towards 
the western shore, in order to increase the distance between 
them and this new enemy. In the meantime they were 
reminded of the presence of those who pressed upon their rear, 
by wild and exulting shouts. The stirring scene awakened even 
Munro from his apathy. ^ 

‘‘ Let us make for the rocks on the main,” he said, with the 
mien of a tried soldier, “ and give battle to the savages. God 
forbid that I, or those attached to me and mine, should ever 
trust again to the faith of any servant of the Louises !” 

“ He who wishes to prosper in Indian warfiire,” returned the 
scout, “ must not be too proud to learn from the wit of a native. 
Lay her more along the land. Sagamore ; we are doubling on 
the varlets, and perhaps they inay try to strike our trail on the 
long calculation.” 

Hawk-eye was not mistaken ; for when the Hurons found 
their course was likely to throw them behind their chase, they 
rendered it less direct, until, by gradually bearing more and 
more obliquely, the two canoes were, ere long, gliding on 


2G2 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


parallel lines, within two hundred yards of each other. It now 
became entirely a trial of speed. So rapid was the progress of 
the light vessels, that the lake curled in their front, in miniature 
wa\’es, and their motion became undulating by its own velocity. 
It was, perhaps, owing to this circumstance, in addition to the 
necessity of keeping every hand employed at the paddles, that 
the Hurons had not immediate recourse to their fire-arms. The 
exertions of the fugitives were too severe to continue long, and 
the pursuers had the advantage of numbers. Duncan 
observed, with uneasiness, that the scout began to look anxiously 
about him, as if searching for some further means of assisting 
their flight. 

“ Edge her a little more from the sun. Sagamore,” said the 
stubborn woodsman ; “ I see the knaves are sparing a man to 
the rifle. A single broken bone might lose us our scalps. Edge 
more from the sun and we will put the island between us.” 

The expedient was not without its use. A long, low island 
lay at a little distance before them, and as they closed with it, 
the chasing canoe was compelled to take a side opposite to that 
on which the pursued passed. The scout and his companions 
did not neglect this advantage, but the instant they were hid 
from observation by the bushes, they redoubled efforts that 
before had seemed prodigious. The two canoes came round 
the last low point, like two coursers at the top of their speed, 
the fugitives taking the lead. This change had brought them 
Higher to each other, however, while it altered their relative 
positions. 

“ You showed knowledge in the shaping of birchen bark, 
Uncas, when you chose this from among the Huron canoes,” 
said the scout, smiling, apparently more in satisfaction at their 
superiority in the race, than from that prospect of final escape 
which now began to open a little upon them. “ The imps have 
put all their strength again at the paddles, and we are to 
struggle for our scalps with bits of flattened wood, instead of 
clouded barrels and true eyes. A long stroke, and together, 
friends.” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 263 

“ They are preparing for a shot,” said Heyward ; “ and as wo 
are in a line with them, it can scarcely fail.” 

“ Get you then into the bottom of the canoe,” returned the 
scout ; “ you and the colonel ; it will be so much taken from the 
size of the mark.” 

Heyward smiled, as he answered — 

“ It would be but an ill example for the highest in rank to 
dodge, while the warriors were under fire !” 

“ Lord ! Lord ! that is now a white man’s courage !” ex- 
claimed the scout ; “ and like too many of his notions, not to be 
maintained by reason. Do you think the Sagamore, or Uncas, 
or even I, who am a man without a cross, w'ould deliberate 
about finding a cover in the skrimmage, when an open body 
would do no good ? For what have the Frenchers reared 
up their Quebec, if fighting is always to be done in the 
clearings ?” 

“ All that you say is very true, my friend,” replied Heyward ; 
“still, our customs must prevent us from doing as you wish.” 

A volley from the Hurons interrupted the discourse, and as 
the bullets whistled about them, Duncan saw the head of Uncas 
turned, looking back at himself and Munro. Notwithstanding 
the nearness of the enemy, and his own great personal danger, 
the countenance of the young wwrior expressed no other 
emotion, as the former was compelled to think, than amazement 
at finding men willing to encounter so useless an exposure. 
Chingachgook w'as probably better acquainted with the notions 
of white men, for he did not even cast a glance aside from the 
riveted look his eye maintained on the object by which ho 
governed their course. A ball soon struck the light and polished 
paddle from the hands of the chief, and drove it through the 
air, far in the advance. A shout arose from the Hurons, who 
seized the opportunity to fire another volley. Uncas described 
an arc in the water with his own blade, and as the canoe passed 
swiftly on, Chingachgook recovered his paddle, and flourishing 
it on high, he gave the w^arwhoop of the Mohicans, and then 
lent his strength and skill again to the important task. 


204 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


The clamorous sounds of “ Le gros Serpent !” “ La longue 

Carabine !” “ Le Cerf agile !” burst at once from the canoes 
behind, and seemed to give new zeal to the pursuers. The 
scout seized “ Kill-deer” in his left hand, and elevating it above 
his head, lie shook it in triumph at his enemies. The savages 
answered the insult with a yell, and immediately another volley 
succeeded. The bullets pattered along the lake, and one even 
pierced the bark of their little vessel. No perceptible emotion 
could be discovered in the Mohicans during this critical moment, 
their i-igid features expressing neither hope nor alarm ; but the 
scout again turned his head, and laughing in his own silent 
manner, he said to Heyward — 

“ The knaves love to hear the sounds of their pieces ; but the 
eye is not to be found among the Mingoes that can calculate a 
true range in a dancing canoe 1 You see the dumb devils have 
taken off a man to charge, and by the smallest measurement 
that can be allowed, we move three feet to their two !” 

Duncan, who was not altogether as easy under this nice esti- 
mate of distances as his companions, was glad to find, however, 
that owing to their superior dexterity, and the diversion among 
their enemies, they were very sensibly obtaining the advantage. 
The Hurons soon fired again, and a bullet struck the blade of 
Hawk-eye’s paddle without injury. 

“ That will do,” said the scout, examininf^ the sliofht inden- 
tation with a curious eye ; “ it would not have cut the skin of 
an infant, much less of men, who, like us, have been blown upon 
by the Heavens in their anger. Now, Major, if you will try to 
use this piece of flattened wood. I’ll let ‘ Kill-deer’ take a part in 
the conversation.” 

Heyward seized the pciddle, and applied himself to the work 
with an eagerness that supplied the place of skill, while Hawk- 
eye was engaged in inspecting the priming of his rifle. The 
latter then took a swift aim, and fired. The Huron in the bows 
of the leading canoe had risen with a similar object, and he now 
Dll backward, suftering his gun to escape from his hands into 
the water*. In an instant, however, he, recovered his feet, thoucrh 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 265 

his gestures were wild and bewildered. At the same moment 
his companions suspended their efforts, and the chasing canoes 
clustered together, and became stationary. Chingachgook and 
Uncas profited by the interval to regain their wind, though 
Duncan continued to work with the most persevering industry. 
The father and son now cast calm but inquiring glances at 
each other, to learn if either had sustained any injury by the 
fire ; for both well knew that no cry or exclamation would, in 
such a moment of necessity, have been permitted to betray the 
accident. A few large drops of blood were trickling down the 
shoulder of the Sagamore, who, when he perceived that the eyes 
of Uncas dwelt too long on the sight, raised some water in the 
hollow of his hand, and washing oft' the stain, was content 
to manifest, in this simple manner, the slightness of the 
injury. 

“ Softly, softly. Major,” said the scout, who by this time had 
reloaded his rifte ; “ we are a little too far already for a rifte to 
put forth its beauties, and you see yonder imps are holding a 
council. Let them come up within striking distance — my eye 
may well be trusted in such a matter — and I will trail the var- 
lets the length of the Horican, guaranteeing that not a shot of 
theirs shall, at the worst, more than break the skin,''while ‘ Kill- 
deer’ shall touch the life twice in three times.” 

“We forget our eri-and,” returned the diligent Duncan. 

“ For God’s sake let us profit by this advantage, and increase 
our distance from the enemy.” 

“ Give me my children,” said Munro, hoarsely ; “ trifie no 
longer with a father’s agony, but restore me my babes.” 

Long and habitual deference to the mandates of his superiors 
had tauo;ht the scout the virtue of obedience. Throwing a last 
and lingering glance at the distant canoes, he laid aside his rifle, 
and relieving the wearied Duncan, resumed the pa^le, which * 
he wielded with sinews that never tired. His efforts were 
seconded by those of the Mohicans, and a very few minutes 
served to place such a sheet of water between them and their 
enemies, that Heyward once more breathed freely. 

12 


266 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


The lake now began to expand, and their route lay along a 
wide reach, that was lined, as before, by high and ragged 
mountains. But the islands were few, and easily avoided. The 
strokes of the paddles grew more measured and regular, while 
they who plied them continued their labor, after the close and 
deadly chase from which they had just relieved themselves, 
with as much coolness as though their speed had been tried in 
sport, rather than under such pressing, nay, almost desperate 
circumstances. 

Instead of following the western shore, whither their errand 
led them, the wary Mohican inclined his course more towards 
those hills behind which Montcalm was known to have led his 
army into the formidable fortress of Ticonderoga. As the 
Hurons, to every appearance, had abandoned the pursuit, there 
was no apparent reason for this excess of caution. It was, how- 
ever, maintained for hours, until they had reached a bay, nigh 
the northern termination of the lake. Here the canoe was driven 
upon the beach, and the whole party landed. Hawk-eye and 
Heyward ascended an adjacent bluff, where the former, after 
considering the expanse of water beneath him, pointed out to 
the latter a small black object, hovering under a headland, at 
the distance of several miles. 

“ Ho you see it ?” demanded the scout. “ Now, what would 
you account that spot, were you left alone to white e.xperience 
to find your way through this wilderness ?” 

“ But for its distance and its magnitude, I should suppose it 
a bird. Can it be a living object ?” 

“ ’Tis a canoe of good birchen bark, and paddled by fierce 
and crafty Mingoes. Though Providence has lent to those who 
inhabit the woods eyes that would be needless to men in the 
settlements, where there are inventions to assist the sight, yet no 
human organs can see all the dangers which at this moment 
circumvent us. These varlets pretend to be bent chiefly on 
their sun-down meal, but the moment it is dark they will be on 
our trail, as true as hounds on the scent. We must throw them 
oflf, or our pursuit of Le Renard subtil may be given up. These 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 267 

lakes are useful at times, especially when the game takes the 
water,” continued the scout, gazing about him with a counte- 
nance of concern ; “ but they give no cover, except it be to the 
fishes. God knows what the country would be, if the settle- 
ments should ever spread far from the two rivers. Both hunting 
and war would lose their beauty.” 

“ Let us not delay a moment, without some good and obvious 
cause.” 

“I little like that smoke, which you may see worming up 
along the rock above the canoe,” interrupted the abstracted 
scout. “ My life on it, other eyes than ours see it, and know 
its meaning. Well, words will not mend the matter, and it is 
time that we were doing.” 

Hawk-eye moved away from the look-out, and descended, 
musing profoundly, to the shore. He communicated the re- 
sult of his observations to his companions, in Delaware, and a 
short and earnest consultation succeeded. When it terminated, 
the three instantly set about executing their new resolutions. 

The canoe was lifted from the water, and borne on the 
shoulders of the party. They proceeded into the wood, making 
as broad and obvious a trail as possible. They soon reached a 
water-course, which they crossed, and continued onward, until 
they came to an extensive and naked rock. At this point, 
where their footsteps might be expected to be no longer visible, 
they retraced their route to the brook, walking backwards, with 
the utmost care. They now followed the bed of the little 
stream to the lake, into which they immediately launched their 
canoe again. A low point concealed them from the headland, 
and the margin of the lake was fringed for some distance with 
dense and over-hanging bushes. Under the cover of these 
natural advantages, they toiled their way, with patient industry, 
until the scout pronounced that he believed it would be safe 
once more to land. 

The halt continued until evening rendered objects indistinct 
and uncertain to the eye. Then they resumed their route, and, 
favored by the darkness, pushed silently and vigorously towards 


O 


268 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


the western sliore. Although the rugged outline of mountain, 
to which they were steering, presented no distinctive marks to 
the eyes of Duncan, the Mohican entered the little haven he 
had selected with the confidence and accuracy of an experienced 
pilot. 

The boat was again lifted and borne into the woods, where 
it was carefully concealed under a pile of brush. The adven- 
turers assumed their arms and packs, and the scout announced 
to Munro and Heyward that he and the Indians were at last in 
readiness to proceed. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


269 


CHAPTER XXI. 

If you find a man there, he shall die a flea’s death. 

Merry Wives of Windsor. 

The party had landed on the border of a region that is, even 
to this day, less known to the inhabitants of the states, than 
the deserts of Arabia, or the steppes of Tartary. It was the 
sterile and rugged district which separates the tributaries of 
Champlain from those of the Hudson, the Mohawk, and the St. 
Lawrence. Since the period of our tale, the active spirit of the 
country has surrounded it with a belt of rich and thriving 
settlements, though none but the hunter or the savage is ever 
known, even now, to penetrate its wild recesses. 

As Hawk-eye and the Mohicans had, however, often traversed 
the mountains and valleys of this vast wilderness, they did not 
hesitate to plunge into its depths, with the freedom of men 
accustomed to its privations and difficulties. For mapy hours the 
travellers toiled on their laborious way, guided by a star, or fol- 
lowing the direction of some water-course, until the scout called 
a halt, and holding a short consultation with the Indians, they 
lighted their fire, and made the usual preparations to pass the 
remainder of the night where they then were. 

Imitating the example, and emulating the confidence, of theii 
more experienced associates, Munro and Duncan slept without 
fear, if not without uneasiness. The dews were suffered to 
exhale, and the sun had dispersed the mists, and was shedding 
a strong and clear light in the forest, when the travellers 
resumed their journey. 

After proceeding a few miles, the progress of Hawkeye, who 
led the advance, became more deliberate and watchful. He 
often stopped to examine the trees ; nor did he cross a rivulet, 


2*40 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

without attentively considering the quantity, the velocity, and 
the color of its waters. Distrusting his own judgment, his 
appeals to the opinion of Chingachgook were frequent and 
earnest. During one of these conferences, Heyward observed 
that Uncas stood a patient and silent, though, as he imagined, 
an interested listener. He was strongly tempted to address 
the young chief, and demand his opinion of their progress ; but 
the calm and dignified demeanor of the native induced him to 
Delie ve that, like himself, the other was wholly dependent on 
the sagacity and intelligence of the seniors of the party. At 
last, the scout spoke in English, and at once explained the 
embarrassment of their situation. 

“ When I found that the home path of the Hurons run 
north,” he said, “ it did not need the judgment of many long 
years to tell that they would follow the valleys, and keep 
atween the waters of the Hudson and the Horican, until they 
might strike the springs of the Canada streams, which would 
lead them into the heart of the country of the Frenchers. Yet 
here are we, within a short range of the Scaroon, and not a 
sign of a trail have we crossed ! Human natur’ is weak, and it 
is possible we may not have taken the proper scent.” 

“ Heaven protect us from such an error !” exclaimed Duncan. 
“ Let us retrace our steps, and examine as we go, with keener 
eyes. Has Uncas no counsel to offer in such a strait ?” 

The young Mohican cast a glance at his father, but main- 
taining his quiet and reserved mien, he continued silent. Chin- 
gachgook had caught the look, and motioning with his hand, 
he bade him speak. The moment this permission was accorded, 
the countenance of Uncas changed from its gra:ve composure 
to a gleam of intelligence and joy. Bounding forward like a 
deer, he sprang up the side of a little acclivity, a few rods in 
advance, and stood, exultingly, over a spot of fresh earth, that 
looked as though it had been recently upturned by the passage 
of some heavy animal. The eyes of the whole party followed 
the unexpected movement, and read their success in the air of 
triumph that the youth assumed. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


271 


“ ’Tis the trail !” exclaimed the scout, advancing to the spot : 
“ the lad is quick of sight and keen of wit for his years.” 

“ ’Tis extraordinary that he should have withheld his know- 
ledge so long,” muttered Duncan, at his elbow. 

“ It would have been more wonderful had he spoken without 
a bidding. No, no ; your young white, who gathers his learning 
from books and can measure what he knows by the page, may 
conceit that his knowledge, like his legs, outruns that of his 
father ; but where experience is the master, the scholar is made 
to know the value of years, and respects them accordingly.” 

“ See !” said Uncas, pointing north and south, at the evident 
marks of the broad trail on either side of him : “ the dark-hair 
has gone towards the frost.” 

“ Hound never ran on a more beautiful scent,” responded the 
scout, dashing forward, at once, on the indicated route ; “ we are 
favored, greatly favored, and can follow with high noses. Ay, 
here are both your waddling beasts : this Huron travels like a 
white general. The fellow is stricken with a judgment, and is 
mad ! Look sharp for wheels, Sagamore,” he continued, looking 
back, and laughing in his newly awakened satisfaction ; “ we 
shall soon have the fool journeying in a coach, and that with 
three of the best pair of eyes on the borders, in his rear.” 

The. spirits of the scout, and the astonishing success of the 
chase, in which a circuitous distance of more than forty miles 
had been passed, did not fail to impart a portion of hope to the 
whole party. Their advance was rapid ; and made with as 
much confidence as a traveller would proceed along a wide 
highway. If a rock, or a rivulet, or a bit of earth harder than 
common, severed the links of the clue they followed, the true 
eye of the scout recovered them at a distance, and seldom 
rendered the delay of a single moment necessary. Their 
progress was much facilitated by the certainty that Magua had 
found it necessary to journey through the valleys ; a circum- 
stance which rendered the general direction of the route sure. 
Nor had the Huron entirely neglected the arts uniformly prac* 
tised by the natives when retiring in front of an enemy. False 


272 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


trails, and sudden turnings, were frequent, wherever a brook, or 
the formation of the ground, rendered them feasible ; but his 
pursuers were rarely deceived, and never failed to detect their 
error, before they had lost either time or distance on the 
deceptive track. 

By the middle of the afternoon they had passed the Scaroon, 
and were following the route of the declining sun. After 
descending an eminence to a low bottom, through which a 
swift stream glided, they suddenly came to a place where the 
party of Le Renard had made a halt. Extinguished brands 
were lying around a spring, the ofials of a deer were scattered 
about the place, and the trees bore evident marks of having 
been browsed by the horses. At a little distance, Heyward 
discovered, and contemplated with tender emotion, the small 
bower under which he was fain to believe that Cora and Alice 
had reposed. But while the earth was trodden, and the foot- 
steps of both men and beasts were so plj^inly visible around 
the place, the trail appeared to have suddenly ended. 

It was easy to follow the tracks of the Narragansetts, but 
they seemed only to have wandered without guides, or any 
other object than the pursuit of food. At length Uncas, who, 
with his father, had endeavored to trace the route of the horses, 
came upon a sign of their presence that was quite recent. 
Before following the clue, he communicated his success to his 
companions ; and while the latter were consulting on the cir- 
cumstance, the youth reappeared, leading the tw'o fillies, with 
their saddles broken, and the housings soiled, as though they 
had been permitted to run at will for several days. 

“ What should this prove ?” said Duncan, turning pale, and 
glancing his eyes around him, as if he feared the brush and 
leaves were about to give up some horrid secret. 

“ That our march is come to a quick end, and that we are in 
an enemy’s country,” returned the scout. “ Had the knave 
been pressed, and the gentle ones wanted horses to keep up 
with the party, he might have taken their scalps ; but without 
an enemy at his heels, and with such rugged beasts as these 


2Y3 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

he would not hurt a hair of their heads. I know your thouo-hts, 
and shame be it to our color, that you have reason for them ; 
but he who thinks that even a Mingo would ill-treat a woman, 
unless it be to tomahawk her, knows nothing of Indian natur’, 
or the laws of the woods. No, no; I have heard that the 
French Indians had come into these hills, to hunt the moose, 
and we are getting within scent of their camp. Why should 
they not ? the morning and evening guns of Ty may be heard 
any day among these mountains ; for the Frenchers are run- 
ning a new line atween the provinces of the King and the Cana- 
das. It is true that the horses are here, but the Hurons are 
gone ; let us then hunt for the path by which they departed.” 

Hawk-eye and the Mohicans now applied themselves to their 
task in good earnest. A circle of a few hundred feet in circum- 
ference was drawn, and each of the party took a segment for 
his portion. The examination, however, resulted in no disco- 
very. The impressions of footsteps were numerous, but they all 
appeared like those of men who had wandered about the spot, 
without any design to quit it. Again the scout and his com- 
panions made the circuit of the halting-place, each slowly 
following the other, until they assembled in the centre once 
more, no wiser than when they started. 

“ Such cunning is not without its deviltry,” exclaimed Hawk- 
eye, when he met the disappointed looks of his assistants. 

“We must get down to it. Sagamore, beginning at the 
spring, and going o'^er the ground by inches. The Huron 
shall never brag in his tribe that he has a foot which leaves no 
print.” 

Setting the example himself, the scout engaged in the scrutiny 
with renewed zeal. Not a leaf was left unturned. The sticks 
were removed, and the stones lifted — for Indian cunning was 
known frequently to adopt these objects as covers, laboring 
with the utmost patience and industry, to conceal each footstep 
as they proceeded. Still no discovery was made. At length 
Uncas, whose activity had enabled him to achieve his portion 
of the task the soonest raked the earth across the turbid little 
12 * 


274 


THE LAST or THE MOHICANS. 


rill which ran from the spring, and diverted its course into 
another channel. So soon as its narrow bed below the dam 
w^as dry, he stooped over it with keen and curious eyes. A cry 
of exultation immediately announced the success of the young 
w^arrior. The whole party crowded to the spot, where Uncas 
pointed out the impression of a moccasin in the most alluvion, 

“The lad will be an honor to his people,” said Hawkeye, 
regarding the trail with as much admiration as a naturalist 
would expend on the tusk of a mammoth or the rib of a mas- 
todon ; “ ay, and a thorn in the sides of the Hurons. Yet that 
is not the footstep of an Indian ! the weight is too much on the 
heel, and the toes are squared, as though one of the French 
dancers had been in, pigeon-winging his tribe ! Run back, 
Uncas, and bring me the size of the singer’s foot. You will 
find a beautiful print of it just opposite yon rock, ag’in the hill 
side.’’ 

While the youth was engaged in this commission, the scout 
and Chingachgook were attentively considering the impressions.. 
The measurements agreed, and the former unhesitatingly pro- 
nounced that the footstep was that of David, who had, once 
more, been made to exchange his shoes for moccasins. 

“ I can now read the wdiole of it, as plainly as if I had seen 
the arts of Le Subtil,” he added ; “ the singer being a man 
whose gifts lay chiefly in his throat and feet, w^as made to go 
first, and the others have trod in his steps, imitating their 
formation.” 

“ But,” cried Duncan, “ I see no signs of — ” 

“ The gentle ones,” interrupted the scout ; “ the varlet has 
found a way to carry them, until he supposed he had thrown 
any followers off the scent. My life on it, we see their pretty 
little feet again, before many rods go by.” 

The whole party now proceeded, following the course of the 
rill, keeping anxious eyes on the regular impressions. The 
water soon flowed into its bed again, but watching the ground 
on either side, the foresters pursued their way, content with 
knowing that the trail lay beneath. More than half a mile was 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 27^5 

passed, before the rill rippled close around the base of an 
extensive and dry rock. Here they paused to make sure that 
the Hurons had not quitted the water. 

It was fortunate they did so. For the quick and active Un 
cas soon found the impression of a foot on a bunch of moss, 
where it would seem an Indian had inadvertently trodden. 
Pursuing the direction given by this discovery, he entered the 
neighboring thicket, and struck the trail, as fresh and obvious 
as it had been before they reached the spring. Another shout 
announced the good fortune of the youth to his companions, 
and at once terminated the search. 

“Ay, it has been planned with Indian judgment,” said the 
scout, when the party was assembled around the place ; “ and 
would have blinded white eyes.” 

“ Shall we proceed ?” demanded Heyward. 

“ Softly, softly : we know our path ; but it is good to exa- 
mine the formation of things. This is my schooling. Major ; and 
if one neglects the book, there is little chance of learning from 
the open hand of Providence. All is plain but one thing, 
which is the manner that the knave contrived to get the 
gentle ones along the blind trail. Even a Huron would be too 
proud to let their tender feet touch the water.” 

“ Will this assist in explaining the difficulty ?” said Heyward, 
pointing towards the fragments of a sort of handbarrow, that 
had been rudely constructed of boughs, and bound together 
■with withes, and which now seemed carelessly cast aside as 
useless. 

“ Tis explained !” cried the delighted Hawk-eye. “ If them 
varlets have passed a minute, they have spent hours in striving 
to fabricate a lying end to their trail ! Well, I’ve known 
them waste a day in the same manner, to as little purpose. 
Here we have three pair of moccasins, and two of little feet. It 
is amazing that any mortal beings can journey on limbs so 
small ! Pass me the thong of buckskin, Uncas, and let me 
take the length of this foot. By the Lord, it is no longer than 
a child’s, and yet the maidens are tall and comely. That Pro- 


276 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


vidence is partial in its gifts^ for its own wise reasons, the best 
and most contented of us must allow.” 

“The tender limbs of my daughters are unequal to these 
hardships,” said Munro, looking at the light footsteps of his 
children, with a parent’s love: “we shall find their fainting 
forms in this desert.” 

“ Of that there is little cause of fear,” returned the scout, 
slowly shaking his head : “ this is a firm and straight, though a 
light step, and not over long. See, the heel has hardly touched 
the ground ; and there the dark hair has made a little jump, fi’om 
root to root. No, no ; my knowledge for it, neither of them 
was nigh fainting, hereaway. Now, the singer was beginning 
to be foot-sore and leg-weary, as is plain by his trail. There, 
you see, he slipped ; here he has travelled wide, and tottered ; 
and there, again, it looks as though he journeyed on snow-shoes. 
Ay, ay, a man who uses his throat altogether, can hardly give 
his legs a proper training.” 

From such undeniable testimony, did the practised woodsman 
arrive at the truth, with nearly as much certainty and precision 
as if he had been a witness of all those events, which his inge- 
nuity so easily elucidated. Cheered by these assurances, and 
satisfied by a reasoning that was so obvious, while it was so 
simple, the party resumed its course, after making a short halt, 
to take a hurried repast. 

When the meal was ended, the scout cast a glance upwards 
at the setting sun, and pushed forward with a rapidity which 
compelled Heyward and the still vigorous Munro to exert all 
their muscles to equal. Their route, now, lay along the bottom 
which has already been mentioned. As the Hurons had made 
no further efforts to conceal their footsteps, the progress of the 
pursuers was no longer delayed by uncertainty. Before an 
hour had elapsed, however, the speed of Hawk-eye sensibly 
abated, and his head, instead of maintaining its former direct 
and forward look, began to turn suspiciously from side to side, 
as if he were conscious of approaching danger. He soon 
stopped again and waited for the whole party to come up. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 277 

“ I scent the Hurons,” he said, spe-aking to the Mohicans ; 
‘yonder is open sky, through the tree-tops, and we are getting 
too nigh their encampment. Sagamore, you will take the hill- 
side, to the right; Uncas will bend along the brook to the left, 
while I will try the trail. If anything should happen, the call 
will be three croaks of a crow. I saw one of the birds fanning 
himself in the air, just beyond the dead oak — another sign that 
we are touching an encampment.” 

The Indians departed their several ways without reply, while 
Hawk-eye cautiously proceeded with the two gentlemen. Hey- 
ward soon pressed to the side of their guide, eager to catch an 
early glimpse of those enemies he had pursued with so much 
toil and anxiety. His companion told him to steal to the edge 
of the Tfood, which, as usual, was fringed with a thicket, and 
wait his coming, for he wished to examine certain suspicious 
signs a little on one side. Duncan obeyed, and soon found 
himself in a situation to command a view which he found as 
extraordinary as it was novel. 

The trees of many acres had been felled, and the glow of a 
mild summer’s evening had fallen on the clearing, in beautiful 
contrast to the grey light of the forest. A short distance from 
the place where Duncan stood, the stream had seS'mingly ex- 
panded into a little lake, covering most of the low land, from 
mountain to mountain. The water fell out of this wide basin, 
in a cataract so regular and gentle, that it appeared rather to 
be the work of human hands, than fashioned by nature. A 
hundred earthen dwellings stood on the margin of the lake, and 
even in its water, as though the latter had overflowed its usual 
banks. Their rounded roofs, admirably moulded for defence 
against the weather, denoted more of industry and foresight 
than the natives were wont to bestow on their regular habita- 
tions, much less on those they occupied for the temporary pur- 
poses of hunting and w^ar. In short, the whole village or town, 
whichever it might be termed, possessed more of method and 
neatness of execution, than the white men had been accustomed 
to believe belonged, ordinarily, to the Indian habits. It 


278 THE LAST OF T H*E MOHICANS. 

appeared, however, to be deserted. At least, so thought Duncan 
for many minutes ; but, at length, he fancied he discovered 
several human forms advancing towards him on all fours, and 
apparently dragging in their train some heavy, and as he was 
quick to apprehend, some formidable engine. Just then a few 
dark looking heads gleamed out of the dwellings, and the place 
seemed suddenly alive with beings, which, however, glided from 
cover to cover so swiftly, as to allow no opportunity of examin- 
ing their humors or pursuits. Alarmed at these suspicious and 
inexplicable movements, he was about to attempt the signal of 
the crows, when the rustling of leaves at hand drew his eyes in 
another direction. 

The young man started, and recoiled a few paces instinctively, 
when he found himself within a hundred yards of a stranger 
Indian. Recovering his recollection on the instant, instead of 
sounding an alarm, which might prove fatal to himself, he 
remained stationary, an attentive observer of the other’s 
motions. 

An instant of calm observation served to assure Duncan that 
he was undiscovered. The native, like himself, seemed 
occupied in considering the low dwellings of the village, and the 
stolen movements of its inhabitants. It was impossible to 
discover the expression of his features, through the grotesque 
mask of paint under w'hich they were concealed ; though 
Duncan fancied it was rather melancholy than savage. His 
head was shaved, as usual, with the exception of the crown, 
from whose tuft three or four faded feathers from a Hawk’s 
wdng were loosely dangling. A ragged calico mantle half 
encircled his body, while his nether garment was composed of 
an ordinary shirt, the sleeves of which were made to perform 
the office that is usually executed by a much more commodious 
arrangement. His legs were bare, and sadly cut and torn by 
briers. The feet were, however, covered with a pair of good 
deer-skin moccasins. Altogether, the appearance of the 
individual was forlorn and miserable. 

Duncan was still curiously observing the person of his 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


279 


neighbor, when the scout stole silently and cautiously to his 
** side. 

“ You see we have reached their settlement or encampment,” 
whispered the young man ; “ and here is one of the savages 
himself, in a very embarrassing position for our further move- 
ments.” 

Ilawk-eye started, and dropped his rifle, when, directed by 
the finger of his companion, the stranger came under his view. 
Then lowering the dangerous muzzle, he stretched forward his 
long neck, as if to assist a scrutiny that was already intensely 
keen. 

“ The imp is not a Huron,” he said, “ nor of any of the 
Canada tribes ; and yet you see, by his clothes, the knave has 
been plundering a white. Ay, Montcalm has raked the woods 
for his inroad, and a whooping, murdering set of varlets has he 
gathered together. Can you see where he has put his rifle or 
his bow ?” 

“ He appears to have no arms ; nor does he seem to be 
viciously inclined. Unless he communicate the alarm to his 
fellows, who, as you see, are dodging about the water, we have 
but little to fear from him.” 

The scout turned to Heyward, and regarded him (i moment 
with unconcealed amazement. Then opening wide his mouth, 
he indulged in unrestrained and heartfelt laughter, though in 
that silent and peculiar manner which danger had so long taught 
him to practise. 

Repeating the words, “ fellows who are dodging about the 
water !” he added, “ so much for schooling and passing a 
boyhood in the settlements ! The knave has long legs, 
though, and shall not be trusted. Do you keep him under 
your rifle while I creep in behind, through the bush, and take 
him alive. Fire on no account.” 

Heyward had already permitted his companion to bury part 
of his person in the thicket, when, stretching forth an arm, ho 
arrested him, in order to ask — 

Tf I see you in danger, may I not risk a shot ?” 


280 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Hawk-eye regarded him a moment, like one who knew not 
how to take the question ; then nodding his head, he answered, 
still laughing, though inaudibly — 

“ Fire a whole platoon. Major.” 

In the next moment he was concealed by the leaves. Dun- 
can waited several minutes in feverish impatience, before he 
caught another glimpse of the scout. Then he re-appeared, 
creeping along the earth, from which his dress was hardly 
distinguishable, directly in the rear of his intended captive. 
Having reached within a few yards of the latter, he arose to his 
feet, silently and slowly. At that instant, several loud blows 
were struck on the water, and Duncan turned his eyes just in 
time to perceive that a hundred dark forms were plunging, in a 
body, into the troubled little sheet. Grasping his rifle, his 
looks were again bent on the Indian near him. Instead of 
taking the alarm, the unconscious savage stretched forward his 
neck, as if he also watched the movements about the gloomy 
lake, with a sort of silly curiosity. In the meantime, the 
uplifted hand of Hawk-eye was above him. But, without any 
apparent reason, it was withdrawn, and its owner indulged in 
another long, though still silent, fit of merriment. When the 
peculiar and hearty laughter of Hawk-eye was ended, instead 
of grasping his victim by the throat, he tapped him lightly on 
the shoulder, and exclaimed aloud — 

“ How now, friend ! have you a mind to teach the beavers 
to sing ?” 

“ Even so,” was the ready answer. “ It would seem that the 
Being that gave them power to improve his gifts so well, would 
not deny them voices to proclaim his praise.” 


The last of the mohicans. 


281 


CHAPTER XXII. 

Bot. Are we all met 1 
Qui. Pat— pat ; and here’s a marvellous 
Convenient place for our rehearsal. 

Shakspeare. 

The reader may better imagine, than we describe, the 
surprise of Heyward. His lurking Indians were suddenly con- 
verted into four-footed beasts ; his lake into a beaver pond ; his 
cataract into a dam, constructed by those industrious and 
ingenious quadrupeds ; and a suspected enemy into his tried 
friend, David Gamut, the master of psalmody. The presence of 
the latter created so many unexpected hopes relative to the 
sisters that, without a moment’s hesitation, the young man 
broke out of his ambush, and sprang forward to join the two 
principal actors in the scene. 

The merriment of Hawk-eye was not easily appeased^ With- 
out ceremony, and with a rough hand, he twirled the supple 
Gamut around on his heel, and more than once affirmed that 
the Hurons had done themselves great credit in the fashion of 
his costume. Then seizing the hand of the other, he squeezed 
it with a gripe that brought the tears into the eyes of the placid 
David, and wished him joy of his new condition. 

“ You were about opening your throat-practy sings among 
the beavers, were ye ?” he said. “ The cunning devils know 
half the trade already, for they beat the time with their tails, as 
you heard just now ; and in good time it was too, or ‘ Kill-deer’ 
might have sounded the first note among them. I have known 
greater fools, who could read and write, than an experienced 
old beaver : but as for squalling, the animals are born dumb ! — 
What think you of such a song as this?” 

David shut his sensitive ears, and even Heyward, apprised as 


282 THE LAST OF THE MOHICAA'S. 

he was of the nature of the cry, looked upwards in quest of the 
bird, as the cawing of a crow rang in the air about them. 

“ See,” continued the laughing scout, as he pointed towards 
the remainder of the party, who, in obedience to the signal, 
were already approaching : “ this is music, which has its natural 
virtues ; it brings two good rifles to my elbow, to say nothing 
of the knives and tomahawks. But we see that you are safe ; 
now tell us what has become of the maidens.” 

“ They are captives to the heathen,” said David ; “ and 
though greatly troubled in spirit, enjoying comfort and safety in 
the body.” 

“ Both ?” demanded the breathless Heyward. 

“ Even so. Though our wayfaring has been sore and our 
sustenance scanty, we have had little other cause for complaint, 
except the violence done our feelings, by being thus led in 
captivity into a far land.” 

“ Bless ye for these very words !” exclaimed the trembling 
Munro ; “ I shall then receive my babes, spotless and angel-like, . 
as I lost them !” 

“I know not that their delivery is at hand,” returned the 
doubting David ; ‘‘ the leader of these savages is possessed of 
an evil spirit that no power short of Omnipotence can tame. I. 
have tried him sleeping and waking, but neither sounds nor 
language seem to touch his soul.” 

“ Where is the knave ?” bluntly interrupted the scout. 

“ He hunts the moose to-day, with his young men ; and 
to-morrow, as I hear, they pass further into these forests, and 
nigher to the borders of Canada. The elder maiden is conveyed 
to a neighboring people, whose lodges are situate beyond 
yonder black pinnacle of rock ; while the younger is detained 
among the women of the Hurons, whose dwellings are but 
two short miles hence, on a table land, where the fire has 
done the office of the axe, and prepared the place for their 
reception.” 

“Alice, my gentle Alice!” murmured Heyward; “she has 
lost the consolation of her sister’s presence 1” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 283 

“ Even so. But so far as praise and thanksgiving in psalmo- 
dy can temper the spirit in affliction, she has not suffered.” 

“ Has she then a heart for music ?” 

“ Of the graver and more solemn character ; though it must 
be acknowledged that, in spite of all my endeavors, the maiden 
weeps oftener than she smiles. At such moments I forbear to 
press the holy songs ; but there are many sweet and comforta- 
ble periods of satisfactory communication, when the ears of the 
savages are astounded with the upliftings of our voices.” 

“ And why are you permitted to go at large, unwatched ?” 

David composed his features into what he intended should 
express an air of modest humility, before he meekly replied — 

“ Little be the praise to such a worm as I. But, though the 
power of psalmody was suspended in the terrible business of 
that field of blood through which we passed, it has recovered 
its influence even over the souls of the heathen, and I am 
suffered to go and come at will.” 

The scout laughed, and tapping his own forehead significantly, 
he perhaps explained the singular indulgence more satisfactorily 
when he said — ^ 

“ The Indians never harm a non-composser. But why, when 
the path lay open before your eyes, did you not strike back on 
your own trail (it is not so blind as that which a squirrel would 
make), and bring in the tidings to Edward ?” 

The scout, remembering only his own sturdy and iron nature, 
had probably exacted a task that David, under no circumstances, 
could have performed. But, without entirely losing the meek- 
ness of his air, the latter was content to answer — 

“ Though my soul would rejoice to visit the habitations of 
Christendom once more, my feet would rather follow the tender 
spirits intrusted to my keeping, even into the idolatrous province 
of the Jesuits, than take one step backward, while they pined in 
captivity and sorrow.” 

Though the figurative language of David was not very 
intelligible, the sincere and steady expression of his eye, and the 
glow on his honest countenance, were not easily mistaken. 


284 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Uncas pressed closer to his side, and regarded the speaker with 
a look of commendation, while his father expressed his 
satisfaction by the ordinary pithy exclamation of approbation. 
The scout shook his head as he rejoined — 

“ The Lord never intended that the man should place all his 
endeavors in his throat, to the neglect of other and better gifts ! 
But he has fallen into the hands of some silly woman, when he 
should have been gathering his education under a blue sky, 
among the beauties of the forest. Here, friend ; I did intend 
to kindle a fire with this tooting whistle of thine ; but os you 
value the thing, take it, and blow your best on it !” 

Gamut received his pitch-pipe with as strong an expression 
of pleasure as he believed compatible with the grave functions 
he exercised. After essaying its virtues repeatedly, in contrast 
with his own voice, and satisfying himself that none of its 
melody was lost, he made a very serious demonstration towards 
achieving a few stanzas of one of the longest effusions in the 
little volume so often mentioned. 

Heyward, however, hastily interrupted his pious purpose, by 
continuing questions concerning the past and j)resent condition 
of I'.is fellow-captives, and in a manner more methodical than 
had been permitted by his feelings in the opening of their 
interview. David, though he regarded his treasure with longing 
eyes, was constrained to answer: especially as the venerable 
father took a part in the interrogatories, with an interest too 
imposing to be denied. Nor did the scout fail to throw in a 
pertinent inquiry, whenever a fitting occasion presented. In 
this manner, though with frequent interruptions, which were 
filled with certain threatening sounds from the recovered 
instrument, the pursuers were put in possession of such leading 
circumstances as were likely to prove useful in accomplishing 
their great and engrossing object — the recovery of the sisters. 
The narrative of David was simple, and the facts but few. 

Magua had waited on the mountain until a safe moment to 
retire presented itself, when he had descended, and taken the 
route along the western side of the Horican, in the direction of 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 285 

the Canadas. As the subtle Huron was familiar with the paths, 
and well knew there was no immediate danger of pursuit, their 
progress had been moderate, and far from fatiguing. It 
appeared, from the unembellished statement of David, that liis 
own presence had been rather endured than desired ; though 
even Magua had not been entirely exempt from that veneration 
with which the Indians regard those whom the Great Spirit has 
visited in their intellects. At night, the utmost care had been 
taken of the captives, both to prevent injury from the damps of 
the woods, and to guard against an escape. At the spi-ing, the 
liorses were turned loose, as has been seen ; and notwithstanding 
the remoteness and length of their trail, the artifices already 
named were resorted to, in order to cut off every clue to their 
place of retreat. On their arrival at the encampment of his 
people, Magua, in obedience to a policy seldom departed from, 
separated his prisoners. Cora had been sent to a tribe that 
temporarily occupied an adjacent valley, though David was far 
too ignorant of the customs and history of the natives, to be able 
to declare anything satisfactory concerning their imme or 
character. He only knew that they had not engaged in the 
late expedition against William Henry ; that, like the Hurons 
themselves, they were allies of Montcalm ; and that they 
maintained an amicable, though a watchful intercourse with the 
warlike and savage people, whom chance had, for a time, brought 
in such close and disagreeable contact with themselves. 

The Mohicans and the scout listened to his interrupted and 
imperfect narrative, with an interest that obviously increased as 
he proceeded; and it was while attempting to explain the 
pursuits of the community in which Cora was detained, that 
the latter abruptly demanded — 

“ Did you see the fashion of their knives ? were they of 
English or French formation ?” 

“My 'thoughts were bent on no such vanities, but rather 
mingled in consolation with those of the maidens.” 

“ The time may come when you will not consider the knife 
of a savage such a despisable vanity,” returned the scout, with 


286 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


li Strong expression of contempt for the other’s dulness. “ Had 
tliey held their corn-feast — or can you say anything of the 
totems of their tribe ?’’ 

“ Of corn, we had many and plentiful feasts ; for the grain, 
being in the milk, is both sweet to the mouth and comfortable 
to the stomach. Of totem, I know not the meaning ; but if it 
appertaineth in any wise to the art of Indian music, it need not 
be inquired after at their hands. They never join their voices 
in praise, and it would seem that they are among the profanest 
of the idolatrous.” 

“ Therein you belie the nature of an Indian. Even the 
Mingo adores but the true and living God. ’Tis a wicked 
fabrication of the whites, and I say it to the shame of my color, 
that would make the warrior bow down before images of his 
own creation. It is true, they endeavor to make truces with 
the wicked one — as who would not with an enemy he cannot 
conquer ! — but they look up for favor and assistance to the Great 
and Good Spirit onl3^” 

“ It may be so,” said David ; “ but I have seen strange and 
fantastic images drawn in their paint, of which their admiration 
and care savored of spiritual pride ; especially one, and that, 
too, a foul and loathsome object.” 

“ Was it a sarpent ?” quickly demanded the scout. 

“ Much the same. It was in the likeness of an abject and 
creeping tortoise.” 

“ Hugh !” exclaimed both the attentive Mohicans in a breath ; 
while the scout shook his head with the air of one who had 
made an important, but by no means a pleasing discovery. 
Then the father spoke, in the language of the Delawares, and 
with a calmness and dignity that instantly arrested the attention 
even of those to whom his words were unintelligible. His 
gestures were impressive, and at times energetic. Once he 
lifted his arm on high ; and as it descended, the action threw 
aside the folds of his light mantle, a finger resting on his breast, 
as if he would enforce his meaning by the attitude. Duncan’s 
eyes followed the movement, and he perceived that the animal 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 287 

just mentioned was beautifully, though faintly, worked in a blue 
tint, on the swarthy breast of the chief All that he had ever 
heard of the violent separation of the vast tribes of the Dela- 
wares rushed across his mind, and he awaited the proper 
moment to speak, with a suspense that was rendered nearly 
intolerable, by his interest in the stake. His wish, however, 
was anticipated by the scout, who turned from his red friend, 
saying— 

“We have found that which may be good or evil to us, as 
Heaven disposes. The Sagamore is of the high blood of the 
Delawares, and is the great chief of their Tortoises ! That 
some of this stock are among the people of whom the singer 
tells us, is plain, by his words ; and had he but spent half the 
’breath in prudent questions, that he has blown away in making 
a trumpet of his throat, we might have known how many 
warriors they numbered. It is, altogether, a dangerous path 
we move in ; for a friend whose face is turned from you often 
bears a bloodier mind than the enemy who seeks your scalp.” 

“Explain,” said Duncan. 

“ ’Tis a long and melancholy tradition, and one I little like 
to think of; for it is not to be denied, that the evil has been 
mainly done by men with white skins. But it has ended in 
turning the tomahawk of brother against brother, and brought 
the Mingo and the Delaware to travel in the same path.” 

“ You Then suspect it is a portion of that people among whom 
Cora resides ?” 

The scout nodded his head in assent, though he seemed 
anxious to wai\'e the further discussion of a subject that appeared 
painful. The impatient Duncan now made several hasty and 
desperate propositions to attempt the release of the sisters, 
Munro seemed to shake off his apathy, and listened to the wild 
schemes of the young man with a deference that his grey hairs 
and reverend years should have denied. But the scout, after 
suffering the ardor of the lover to expend itself a little, found 
means to convince him of the folly of precipitation, in a matter 
tliat would require their coolest judgment and utmost fortitude. 


288 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ It would be well,” he added, “ to let this man go in p,gain, 
as usual, and for him to tarry in the lodges, giving notice to the 
gentle ones of our approach, until we call him out, by signal, to 
consult. You know the cry of a crow, friend, from, the whistle 
of the whip-poor-will ?” 

“ ’Tis a pleasing ])ird,” returned David, “ and has a soft and 
melancholy note ! though the time is rather quick and ill- 
measured.” 

“ He speaks of the wish-ton-wish,” said the scout : “ well, 
since you like his whistle, it shall be your signal. Remember, 
then, when you hear the whip-poor-will’s call three times 
repeated, you are to come into the bushes where the bird might 
be supposed — ” 

“Stop,” interrupted Heyward : “I will accompany him.” 

“ You !” exclaimed the astonished Hawk-eye ; “ are you tired 
of seeing the sun rise and set ?” 

“ David is a living proof that the Hurons can be merciful.” 

“ Ay, but David can use his throat, as no man in his senses 
would pervart the gift.” 

“ I too can play the madman, the fool, the hero ; in short, 
any or everything to rescue her I love. Name your objections 
no longer : I am resolved.” 

Hawk-eye regarded the young man a moment in speechless 
amazement. But Duncan, who, in deference to the other’s skill 
and services, had hitherto submitted somewhat implicitly to his 
dictation, now assumed the superior, with a manner that was 
not easily resisted. He waved his hand, in sign of his dislike 
to all remonstrance, and then, in more tempered language, he 
continued — 

“ You have the means of disguise ; change me ; paint me too, 
if you will ; in short, alter me to anything — a fool.” 

“It is not for one like me to say that he who is already 
formed by so powerful a hand as Providence, stands in need of 
a change,” muttered the discontented scout. “ When you send 
your parties abroad in war, you find it prudent, at least, to 
arrange the marks and places of encampment, in order that they 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


‘289 


“who fight on your side may know when and where to expect a 
friend,” 

“ Listen,” interrupted Duncan ; “ you have heard from this 
faithful follower of the captives, that the Indians are of two 
tribes, if not of different nations. With one, whom you think 
to be a branch of the Delawares, is she you call the ‘ dark hair 
the other, and younger of the ladies, is undeniably with our 
declared enemies, the Hurons. It becomes my youth and rank 
to attempt the latter adventure. While you, therefore, are 
negotiating with your friends for the release of one of the 
sisters, I will effect that of the other, or die.” 

The awakened spirit of the young soldier gleamed in his 
eyes, and his form became imposing under its influence. Hawk- 
eye, though too much accustomed to Indian artifices not to 
foresee the danger of the experiment, knew not well how to 
combat this sudden resolution. 

Perhaps there was something in the proposal that suited his 
own hardy nature, and that secret love of desperate adventure, 
which had increased with his experience, until hazard and dan- 
ger had become, in some measure, necessary to the enj<?yment 
of his existence. Instead of continuing to oppose the scheme 
of Duncan, his humor suddenly altered, and he lent himself to 
its execution. 

“Come,” he said, with a good-humored smile; “the buck 
that wilhtake to the water must be headed, and not followed. 
Cliingachgook has as many different paints as the engineer 
officer’s wife, who takes down natur’ on scraps of paper, making 
the mountains look like cocks of rusty hay, and placing the blue 
sky in reach of your hand. The Sagamore can use them too. 
Seat yourself on the log ; and my life on it, he can soon make a 
natural fool of you, and that well to your liking.” 

Duncan complied ; and the Mohican, who had been an 
attentive listener to the discourse, readily undertook the office. 
Long practised in all the subtle arts of his race, he drew witli 
great dexterity and quickness, the fantastic shadow that the 
natives were accustomed to consider as the evidence of a friendly 

13 


290 


T xl E LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


and jocular disposition. Every line that could possibly be 
interpreted into a secret inclination for war, was carefully 
avoided; while, on the other hand, he studied those conceits 
that might be construed into amity. 

In short, he entirely sacrificed every appearance of the war- 
rior to the masquerade of a buffoon. Such exhibitions were 
not uncommon among the Indians ; and as Duncan was already 
sufficiently disguised in his dress, there certainly did exist some 
reason for believing that, with his knowledge of French, he 
might pass for a juggler from Ticonderoga, straggling among 
the allied and friendly tribes. 

When he was thought to be sufficiently painted, the scout 
gave him much friendly advice ; concerted signals, and 
appointed the place where they should meet, in the event of 
mutual success. The parting between Munro and his young 
friend was more melancholy ; still, the former submitted to the 
separation with an indifference that his warm and honest nature 
would never have permitted in a more healthful state of mind. 
The scout led Heyward aside, and acquainted him with his 
intention to leave the veteran in some safe encampment, in 
charge of Chingachgook, while he and iTncas pursued their 
inquiries among the people they had reason to believe were 
Delawares. Then renewing his cautions and advice, he con- 
cluded, by saying, with a solemnity and warmth of feeling, with 
which Duncan was deeply touclied — 

“And now God bless you ! You have shown a spirit that I 
like; fqr it is the gift of youth, more especially one of warm 
blood and a stout heart. But believe the warning of a man 
who has reason to know all he says to be true. You will have 
occasion for your best manhood, and for a sharper wit than 
what is to be gathered in books, afore you outdo the cunning, 
or get the better of the courage of a Mingo. God bless you ! 
if the Hurons master your scalp, rely on the promise of one 
who has two stout warriors to back him. They shall pay for 
their victory, with a life for every hair it holds. 1 say, young 
gentleman, may Providence bless your undertaking, which is 


TTIE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


291 


altogether for good ; and remember, that to outwit the knaves 
it is lawful to practise things that may not be naturally the gift 
of a white skin.” 

Duncan shook his worthy and reluctant associate warmly by 
the hand, once more recommended his aged friend to his care, 
and returning his good wishes, he motioned to David to proceed. 
Hawk-eye gazed after the high-spirited and adventurous young 
man for several moments, in open admiration ; then shaking his 
head doubtingly, he turned, and led his own division of the 
party into the concealment of the forest. 

The route taken by Duncan and David lay directly across the 
clearing of the beavers, and along the margin of their pond. 

When the former found himself alone with one so simple, and 
so little qualified to render any assistance in desperate emergen- 
cies, he first began to be sensible of the difficulties of the task he 
had undertaken. The fading light increased the gloominess of 
the bleak and savage wilderness that stretched so far on every 
side of him ; and there was even a fearful character in the 
stillness of those little huts, that he knew were so abiuidantly 
peopled. It struck him, as he gazed at the admirable structures 
and the wonderful precautions of their sagacious inmates, that 
even the brutes of these vast wilds were possessed of an instinct 
nearly commensurate with his own reason ; and he could not 
reflect, without anxiety, on the unequal contest that he had so 
rashly courted. Then came the glowing image of Alice ; her 
distress ; her actual danger ; and all the peril of his situation 
was forgotten. Cheering David, he moved on with the light 
and vigorous step of youth and enterprise. 

After ^making nearly a semicircle around the pond, they 
diverged from the water-course, and began to ascend to the 
level of a slight elevation in that bottom land, over which they 
journeyed. Within half an honr they gained the margin of 
another opening that bore all the signs of having been also 
made by the beavers, and which those sagacious animals had 
probably been induced, by some accident, to abandon, for the 
more eligible position they now occupied. A very natural 


292 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


sensation caused Duncan to hesitate a moment, unwilling to 
leave the cover of their bushy path, as a man pauses to collect 
his energies before he essays any hazardous experiment, in which 
he is secretly conscious they will all be needed. He profited by 
the halt, to gather such information as might be obtained from 
his short and hasty glances. 

On the opposite side of the clearing, and near the point where 
the brook tumbled over some rocks, from a still higher level, 
some fifty or sixty lodges, rudely fabricated of logs, brush, and 
earth intermingled, were to be discovered. They were arranged 
without any order, and seemed to be constructed with very little 
attention to neatness or beauty. Indeed, so very inferior w'ere 
they in the two latter particulars to the village Duncan had 
just seen, that he began to expect a second surprise, no less 
astonishing than the former. This expectation was in no degree 
diminished, when, by the doubtful twilight, he beheld twenty 
or thirty forms rising alternately from the cover of the tall, 
coarse grass, in front of the lodges, and then sinking again from 
the sight, as it were to burrow in the earth. By the sudden 
and hasty glimpses that he caught of these figures, they seemed 
more like dark glancing spectres, or some other unearthly beings, 
than creatures fashioned with the ordinary and vulgar materials 
of flesh and blood. A gaunt, naked form was seen, for a single 
instant, tossing its arms wildly in the air, and then the spot it 
had filled was vacant ; the figure appearing suddenly in some 
other and distant place, or being succeeded by another, possess- 
ing the same mysterious character. David, observing that his 
companion lingered, pursued the direction of his gaze, and in 
some measure recalled the recollection of Heyward, by peaking. 

“ There is much fruitful soil uncultivated here,” he said ; “and 
I may add, without the sinful leaven of self-commendation, that 
since my short sojourn in these heathenish abodes, much good 
seed has been scattered by the way-side.” 

“ The tribes are fonder of the chase than of the arts of men 
of labor,” returned the unconscious Duncan, still gazing at the 
objects of his wonder. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


203 


“ It is rather joy than labor to the spirit, to lift up the voice 
in praise ; but sadly do these boys abuse their gifts. Rarely 
have I found any of their age, on whom nature has so freely 
bestowed the elements of psalmody ; and surely, surely, there 
are none who neglect them more. Three nights have I 
now tarried here, and three several times have I assembled the 
urchins to join in sacred song ; and as often have they responded 
to my efforts with whoopings and bowlings that have chilled ray 
soul !” 

“ Of whom speak you ?” 

“ Of those children of the devil, who waste the precious 
moments in yonder idle antics. Ah ! the wholesome restraint 
of discipline is but little known among this self-abandoned 
people. In a country of birches, a rod is never seen ; and it ought 
not to appear a marvel in my eyes, that the choicest blessings of 
Providence are wasted in such cries as these.” 

David closed his ears against the juvenile pack, whose yell 
just then rang shrilly through the forest ; and Duncan, suffering 
his lip to curl, as in mockery of his own superstition, said 
firmly — 

“We will proceed.” 

Without removing the safeguards from his ears, the master 
of song complied, and together they pursued their way towards 
what Davdd was sometimes wont to call “ the tents of the Phi- 
listines.” 


# 


294 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

But though the beast of game 

The privilege of chase may claim ; 

Though space and law the stag we lend, 

Ere hound we slip, or bow we bend ; 

Who ever recked, where, how, or when 
The prowling fox was trapped or slain 1 

Lady of the Lake. 

It is unusual to find an encampment of the natives, like those 
of the more instructed whites, guarded by the presence of armed 
men. Well informed of the approach of every danger, while it 
is yet at a distance, the Indian generally rests secure under his 
knowledge of the signs of the forest, and the long and difficult 
paths that separate him from those he has most reason to dread. 
But the enemy who, by any lucky concurrence of accidents, 
has found means to elude the vigilance of the scouts, will 
seldom meet with sentinels nearer home to sound the alarm. 
In addition to this general usage, the tribes friendly to the 
French knew too well the weight of the blow that had just 
been struck, to apprehend any immediate danger from the hos- 
tile nations that were tributary to the crown of Britain. 

When Duncan and David, therefore, found themselves in the 
centre of the children, who played the antics already mentioned, 
it was without the least previous intimation of their approach. 
But so soon as they were observed, the whole of the juvenile pack 
raised, by common consent, a shrill and warning whoop ; and 
then sank, as it were, by magic, from before the sight of their 
visitors. The naked, tawny bodies of the crouching urchins 
blended so nicely, at that hour, with the withered herbage, that 
at first it seemed as if the earth had, in truth, swallowed up 
their forms ; though when surprise permitted Duncan to bend 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


295 


his lock more curiously about the spot, he found it everywhere 
met by dark, quick, and rolling eye-balls. 

Gathering no encouragement, from this startling presage of 
the nature of the scrutiny he was likely to undergo from the 
more mature judgments of the men, there was an instant when 
the young soldier would have retreated. It was, however, too 
late to appear to hesitate. The cry of the children had drawn 
a dozen warriors to the door of the nearest lodge, where they 
stood clustered in a dark and savage group, gravely awaiting 
the nearer approach of those who had unexpectedly come among 
them. 

David, in some measure familiarized to the scene, led the way 
with a steadiness that no slight obstacle was likely.to disconcert, 
into this very building. It was the principal edifice of the 
village, though rouglily constructed of the bark and branches of 
trees ; being the lodge in which the tribe held its councils and 
public meetings during their temporary residence on the 
borders of the English province. Duncan found it difficult to 
assume the necessary appearance of unconcern, as he brushed 
the dark and powerful frames of the savages who thronged its 
threshold ; but, conscious that his existence depended 'bn his 
presence of mind, he trusted to the discretion of his companion, 
whose footsteps he closely followed, endeavoring, as he 
proceeded, to rally his thoughts for the occasion. His blood 
curdled when he found himself in absolute contact with such 
fierce and implacable enemies ; but he so far mastered his 
feelings as to pursue his way into the centre of the lodge, with 
an exterior that did not betray the weakness. Imitating the 
example of the deliberate Gamut, he drew a bundle of fragrant 
brush from beneath a pile that filled a corner of the hut, and 
seated himself in silence. 

So soon as their visitor had passed, the observant warriors 
fell back from the entrance, and arranging themselves about 
him, they seemed patiently to await the moment when it might 
comport with the dignity of the stranger to speak. By far the 
greater number stood leaning, in lazy, lounging attitudes, against 


296 


THE LAST or THE MOHICANS. 


the upright posts that supported the crazy building, while three 
or four of the oldest and most distinguished of the chiefs placed 
themselves on the earth a little more in advance. 

A flaring torch was burning in the place, and sent its red glare 
from face to face and figure to figure, as it waved in the 
currents of air. Duncan profited by its light to read the 
probable character of his reception, in the countenances of his 
hosts. But his ingenuity availed him little, against the cold 
artifices of the people he had encountered. The chiefs in front 
scarce cast a glance at his person, keeping their eyes on the 
ground, with an air that might have been intended for respect, 
but which it was quite easy to construe into distrust. The men 
in shadow were less reserved. Duncan soon detected their 
searching, but stolen looks, which, in truth, scanned his person 
and attire inch by inch ; leaving no emotion of the countenance, 
no gesture, no line of the paint, nor even the fashion of a 
garment, unheeded, and without comment. 

At length one whose hair was beginning to be sprinkled with 
grey, but whose sinewy limbs and firm tread announced that he 
was still equal to the duties of manhood, advanced out of the 
gloom of a corner, whither he had probably posted himself to 
make his observations unseen, and^Spoke. He used the 
language of the Wyandots, or Hurons; his words were, 
consequently, unintelligible to Heyward, though they seemed, 
by the gestures that accompanied them, to be uttered more in 
courtesy than anger. The latter shook his head, and made a 
gesture indicative of his inability to reply. 

“Do none of my brothers speak the French or the English?^' 
he said, in the former language, looking about liim from 
countenance to countenance, in hopes of finding a nod of assent. 

Though more than one had turned, as if to catch the 
meaning of his words, they remained unanswered. 

“ I should be grieved to think,” continued Duncan, speaking 
slowly, and using the simplest French of which he was the 
master, “ to believe that none of this wise and brave nation 
understand the language that the ‘ Grand Monarque ’ uses 




THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 29*7 

when he talks to his children. His heart would be heavy did 
he believe his red warriors paid him so little respect !” 

A long and grave pause succeeded, during which no move- 
ment of a limb, nor any expression of an eye, betrayed the 
impression produced by his remark. Duncan, who knew that 
silence was a virtue amongst his hosts, gladly had recourse to 
the custom, in order to arrange his ideas. At length, the 
same warrior who had before addressed him, replied, by drily 
demanding, in the language of the Canadas — 

“ When our Great Father speaks to his people, is it with the 
tongue of a Huron ?” 

“ He knows no difference in his children, whether the color 
of the skin be red, or black, or white,” returned Duncan, 
evasively ; “ though chiefly is he satisfied with the brave 
Hurons.” 

“ In what manner will he speak,” demanded the wary chief, 
“ when the runners count to him the scalps which five nights 
ago grew on the heads of the Yengeese ?” 

“ They were his enemies,” said Duncan, shuddering involun- 
tarily ; “ and, doubtless, he will say. It is good — my Hurojjs are 
very gallant.” ^ 

“ Our Canada father does not think it. Instead of looking 
forward to reward his Indians, his eyes are turned backward. 
He sees the dead Yengeese, but no Huron. What can this 
mean ?” 

“ A great chief, like him, has more thoughts than tongues. 
He looks to see that no enemies are on his trail.” 

“ The canoe of a dead warrior will not float on the Horican,” 
returned the savage, gloomily. “ His ears are open to the 
Delawares, who are not our friends, and they fill them with lies.” 

“ It cannot be. See ; he has bid me, who am a man that 
knows the art of healing, to go to his children, the red Hurons 
of the great lakes, and ask if any are sick !” 

Another silence succeeded this annunciation of the character 
Duncan had assumed. Every eye was simultaneously bent on 
his person, as if to inquire into the truth or falsehood of the 

13 * 


298 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

declaration, with an intelligence and keenness that caused the 
subject of their scrutiny to tremble for the result. He was, 
however, relieved again by the former speaker. 

“ Do the cunning men of the Canadas paint their skins ?” the 
Huron coldly continued; “we have heard them boast that 
their faces were pale.” 

“ When an Indian chief comes among his white fathers,” 
returned Duncan, with great steadiness, “he lays aside his 
buffalo robe, to carry the shirt that is offered him. My brothers 
have given me paint, and I wear it.” 

A low murmur of applause announced that the compliment 
to the tribe was favorably received. The elderly chief made a 
gesture of commendation, which was answered by most of his 
companions, who each threw forth a hand, and uttered a brief 
exclamation of pleasure. Duncan began to breathe more freely, 
believing that the weight of his examination was past ; and as 
he had already prepared a simple and probable tale to support 
his pretended occupation, his hopes of ultimate success grew 
brighter. 

After a silence of a few moments, as if adjusting his thoughts, 
in order to make a suitable answer to the declaration their 
guest had just given, another warrior arose, and placed himself 
in an attitude to speak. While his lips were yet in the act of 
parting, a low but fearful sound arose from the forest, and w’as 
immediately succeeded by a high, shrill yell, that was drawn 
out, until it equalled the longest and most plaintive howl of the 
wolf. The sudden and terrible interruption caused Duncan to 
start from his seat, unconscious of everything but the effect 
produced by so frightful a cry. At the same moment, the 
warriors glided in a body from the lodge, and the outer air was 
filled with loud shouts, that nearly drowned those awful sounds, 
which were still ringing beneath the arches of the woods. 
Unable to command himself any longer, the youth. broke from 
the place, and presently stood in the centre of a disorderly 
throng, that included nearly everything having life, within the 
limits of the encampment. Men, women, and children ; the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 299 

aged, the infirm, the active, and the strong, were alike abroad ; 
some exclaiming aloud, others clapping their hands with a joy 
that seemed frantic, and all expressing their savage pleasure in 
some unexpected event. Though astounded, at first, by the 
uproar, Heyward was soon enabled to find its solution by the 
scene that followed. 

There yet lingered sufficient light in the heavens to exhibit 
those bright openings among the tree-tops, where different 
paths left the clearing to enter the depths of the wilderness. 
Beneath one of them, a line of warriors issued from the woods, 
and advanced slowly towards the dwellings. One in front bore 
a short pole, on which, as it afterwards appeared, were suspended 
several human scalps. The startling sounds that Duncan had 
heard, were what the whites have, not inappropriately, called 
the “ death-hallo and each repetition of the cry was intended 
to announce to the tribe the fate of an enemy. Thus far the 
knowledge of Heyward assisted him in the explanation ; and as 
he now knew that the interruption was caused by the unlooked- 
for return of a successful war-party, every disagreeable sensation 
was quieted in inward congratulations, for the opportugg relief 
and insignificance it conferred on himself. 

When at the distance of a few hundred feet from the lodges, 
the newly arrived warriors halted. Their plaintive and terrific 
cry, which was intended to represent equally the wailings of 
the dead and the triumph of the victors, had entirely ceased. 
One of their number now called aloud, in words that were far 
from appalling, though not more intelligible to those for whose 
eai-s they were intended, than their expressive yells. It would 
be difficult to convey a suitable idea of the savage ecstasy with 
which the news, thus imparted, was received. The whole 
encampment, in a moment, became a scene of the most violent 
bustle and commotion. The warriors drew their knives, and 
flourishing them, they arranged themselves in two lines, forming 
a lane that extended from the war-party to the lodges. The squaws 
seized clubs, axes, or whatever weapon of offence first offered 
itself to their hands, and rushed eagerly to act their part in the 


300 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, 


cruel game that was at hand. Even the children would not he 
excluded ; but boys, little able to wield the instruments, tore the 
tomahawks from the belts of their fathers, and stole into the 
ranks, apt imitators of the savage traits exhibited by their 
parents. 

Large piles of brush lay scattered about the clearing, and a 
wary and aged squaw was occupied in firing as many as might 
serve to light the coming exhibition. As the flame arose, its 
power exceeded that of the parting day, and assisted to render 
objects at the same time more distinct and more hideous. The 
whole scene formed a striking picture, whose frame was com- 
posed of the dark and tall border of pines. The warriors just 
arrived were the most distant figures. A little in advance stood 
two men, who were apparently selected from the rest, as the 
principal actors in what was to follow. The light was not strong 
enough to render their features distinct, though it was quite 
evident that they were governed by very different emotions. 
While one stood erect and firm, prepared to meet his fate like a 
hero, the other bowed his head, as if palsied by terror or stricken 
with shame. The high-spirited Duncan felt a powerful impulse 
of admiration and pity towards the former, though no opportu- 
nity could offer to exhibit his generous emotions. He watched 
his slightest movement, however, with eager eyes ; and as 
he traced the fine outline of his admirably proportioned and 
active frame, he endeavored to persuade himself, that if the 
powers of man, seconded by such noble resolution, could bear 
one harmless through so severe a trial, the youthful captive 
before him might hope for success in the hazardous race he was 
about to run. Insensibly the young man drew nigher to the 
swarthy lines of the Hurons, and scarcely breathed, so intense 
became his interest in the spectacle. Just then the signal yell 
was given, and the momentary quiet which had preceded it 
was broken by a burst of cries, that far exceeded any before 
heard. The most abject of the two victims continued motion- 
less ; but the other bounded from the place at tliQ cry, with the 
activity and swiftness of a deer. Instead of rushing through 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


301 


the hostile lines, jis had been expected, he just entered the 
dangerous defile, and before time was given for a single blow, 
turned short, and leaping the heads of a row of children, he 
gained at once the exterior and safer side of the formidable array. 
The artifice was answered by a hundred voices raised in impre- 
cations ; and the whole of the excited multitude broke from 
their order, and spread themselves about the place in wild 
confusion. 

A dozen blazing piles now shed their lurid brightness on the 
place, which resembled some unhallowed and supernatural arena, 
in which malicious demons had assembled to act their bloody 
and lawless rites. The forms in the back-ground looked like 
unearthly beings, gliding before the eye, and cleaving the air 
with frantic and unmeaning gestures ; while the savage passions 
of such as passed the flames, were rendered fearfully distinct by 
the gleams that shot athwart their inflamed visages. 

It will easily be understood, that amid such a concourse of 
vindictive enemies, no breathing time was allowed the fugitive. 
There was a single moment when it seemed as if he would 
have reached the forest, but the whole body of his captoi;s threw 
themselves before him, and drove him back into the centre of 
his relentless persecutors. Turning like a headed deer, he shot, 
with the swiftness of an arrow, through a pillar of forked flame, 
and passing the whole multitude harmless, he appeared on the 
opposite side of the clearing. Here too he was met and turned 
by a few of the older and more subtle of the Hurons. Once 
more he tried the throng, as if seeking safety in its blindness, 
and then several moments succeeded, during which Duncan 
believed the active and courageous young stranger was lost. 

Nothing could be distinguished but a dark mass of human 
forms tossed and involved in inexplicable confusion. Anns, 
gleaming knives, and formidable clubs, appeared above them, 
but the blows were evidently given at random. The awful 
eflfect was heightened by the piercing shrieks of the women and 
the fierce yells of the warriors. Now and then Duncan caughi 
a glimj>se of a light form cleaving the air in some desperate 


302 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


bound, and he rather hoped than believed that the captive yet 
retained the command of his astonishing powers of activity. 
Suddenly the multitude rolled backward, and aj)proached the 
spot where he himself stood. The heavy body in the rear 
pressed upon the women and children in front, and bore them 
to the earth. The stranger re-appeared in the confusion. Hu- 
man power could not, however, much longer endure so severe a 
trial. Of this the captive seemed conscious. Profiting by the 
momentary opening, he darted from among the warriors, and 
made a desperate, and, what seemed to Duncan, a final effort to 
gain the wood. As if aware that no danger was to be appre- 
hended from the young soldier, the fugitive nearly brushed his 
person in his flight. A tall and powerful Huron, who had 
husbanded his forces, pressed close upon his heels, and with an 
uplifted arm menaced a fatal blow. Duncan thrust forth a foot, 
and the shock precipitated the eager savage headlong, many 
feet in advance of his intended victim. Thought itself is not 
quicker than w^as the motion with which the latter profited by 
the advantage ; he turned, gleamed like a meteor again before 
the eyes of Duncan, and at the next moment, when the latter 
recovered his recollection, and gazed around in quest of the 
captive, he saw him quietly leaning against a small painted post, 
which stood before the door of the principal lodge. 

Apprehensive that the part he had taken in the escape might 
prove fatal to himself, Duncan left the place without delay. 
He followed the crowd, which drew nigh the lodges, gloomy 
and sullen, like any other multitude that had been disappointed 
in an execution. Curiosity, or perhaps a better feeling, induced 
him to approach the stranger. He found him, standing with 
one arm cast about the protecting post, and breathing thick and 
hard, after his exertions, but disdaining to permit a single sign 
of suffering to escape. His person was now protected by imme- 
morial and sacred usage, until the tribe in council had delibe- 
rated and determined on his fate. It was not difficult, however, 
to foretell the result, if any presage could be drawn from the 
feelings of those who crowded the place. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


303 


' There was no term of abuse known to the Huron vocabulary 
that the disappointed women did not lavishly expend on the 
successful stranger. They flouted at his efforts, and told him, 
with bitter scoffs, that his feet were better than his hands ; and 
that he merited wings, while he knew not the use of an arrow 
or a knife. To all this the captive made no reply ; but was 
content to preserve an attitude in which dignity was singularly 
blended with disdain. Exasperated as much by his composure 
as by his good-fortune, their words became unintelligible, and 
were succeeded by shrill piercing yells. Just then the crafty 
squaw, who had taken the necessary precaution to fire the piles, 
made her way through the throng, and cleared a place for her- 
self in front of the captive. The squalid and withered person 
of this hag might well have obtained for her the character of 
possessing more than human cunning. Throwing back her light 
vestment, she stretched forth her long skinny arm, in derision, 
and using the language of the Lenape, as more intelligible to 
the subject of her gibes, she commenced aloud, — . 

“ Look you, Delaware !” she said, snapping her fingers in his 
face ; “ your nation is a race of women, and the hoe is better 
fitted to your hands than the gun. Your squaws are the 
mothers of deer ; but if a bear, or a wild cat, or a serpent, were 
born among you, ye would flee. The Huron girls shall make 
you petticoats, and we will find you a husband.” 

A burst of savage laughter succeeded this attack, during 
which the soft and musical merriment of the younger females 
strangely chimed with the cracked voice of their older and more 
malignant companion. But the stranger was superior to all 
their efforts. His head was immovable ; nor did he betray the 
slightest consciousnass that any were present, except when his 
haughty eye rolled towards the dusky forms of the warriors, who 
stalked in the background, silent and sullen observers of the 
scene. 

Infuriated at the self-command of the captive, the woman 
placed her arms akimbo ; and throwing herself into a posture of 
defiance, she broke out anew, in a torrent of words that no art 


304 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


of ours could commit successfully to paper. Her breath was, 
however, expended in vain ; for, although distinguished in her 
nation as a proficient in the art of abuse, she was permitted to 
work herself into such a fury as actually to foam at the mouth, 
without causing a muscle to vibrate in the motionless figure of 
the stranger. The effect of his indifference began to extend 
itself to the other spectators ; and a youngster, who was just 
quitting the condition of a boy, to enter the state of manhood, 
attempted to assist the termagant, by flourishing his tomahawk 
before their victim, and adding his empty boasts to the taunts 
of the woman. Then, indeed, the captive turned his face 
towards the light, and looked down on the stripling with an 
expression that was superior to contempt. At the next moment 
he resumed his quiet and reclining attitude against the post. 
But the change of posture had permitted Duncan to exchange 
glances with the firm and piercing eyes of Uncas. 

Breathless with amazement, and heavily oppressed with the 
critical situation of his friend, Heyward recoiled before the look, 
trembling lest its meaning might, in some unknown manner, 
hasten the prisoner’s fate. There was not, however, any instant 
cause for such an apprehension. Just then a warrior forced his 
way into the exasperated crowd. Motioning the women and 
children aside with a stern gesture, he took Uncas by the arm, 
and led him towards the door of the council lodge. Thither all 
the chiefs, and most of the distinguished warriors, followed ; 
among whom the anxious Heyward found means to enter 
without attracting any dangerous attention to himself. 

A few minutes were consumed in disposing of those present 
in a manner suitable to their rank and influence in the tribe. 
An order very similar to that adopted in the preceding inter- 
view was observed; the aged and superior chiefs occupying the 
area of the spacious apartment, within the powerful light of a 
glaring torch, while their juniors and inferiors were arranged in 
the back-ground, presenting a dark outline of swarthy and 
marked visages. In the very centre of the lodge, immediately 
under an opening that admitted the twinkling light of one or 


THE LAST Oi* THE MOHICANS. 305 

two stars, stood Uncas, — calm, elevated, and collected. His 
high and haughty carriage was not lost on his captors, who 
often bent their looks on his person, with eyes which, while they 
lost none of their inflexibility of purpose, plainly betrayed their 
admiration of the stranger’s daring. 

The case was different with the individual whom Duncan had 
observed to stand forth with his friend, previously to the 
desperate trial of speed ; and who, instead of joining in the 
chase, had remained, throughout its turbulent uproar, like a 
cringing statue, expressive of shame and disgrace. Though not 
a hand had been extended to greet him, nor yet an eye had 
condescended to vv'atch his movements, he had also entered the 
lodge, as though impelled by a fate to whose decrees he 
submitted, seemingly, without a struggle. Heyward profited 
by the first opportunity to gaze in his face, secretly apprehensive 
he might find the features of another acquaintance ; but they 
proved to be those of a stranger, and, what was still more 
inexplicable, of one who bore all the distinctive marks of a 
Huron warrior. Instead of mingling with his tribe, however, he 
sat apart, a solitary being in a multitude, his form shl-inking 
into a crouching and abject attitude, as if anxious to fill as little 
space as possible. When each individual had taken his proper 
station, and silence reigned in the place, the grey-haired chief 
already introduced to the reader spoke aloud, in the language 
of the Lenni Lenape. 

“ Delaware,” he said, “ though one of a nation of women, you 
have proved yourself a man. I would give you food ; but he 
who eats with a Huron should become his friend. Rest in 
peace till the morning sun, when our last words shall be 
spoken.” 

“ Seven nights, and as many summer days, have I fasted on 
the trail of the Hurons,” Uncas coldly replied ; “ the children 
of the Lenape know how to travel the path of the just without 
lingering to eat.” 

“ Two of my young men are in pursuit of your companion,” 
resumed the other, without appearing to regard the boast of his 


306 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


captive ; “ when they get back, then will our wise men say to 
you ‘ live or die.’ ” 

“ lias a Huron no ears ?” scornfully exclaimed Uncas ; 
“ twice, since he has been your prisoner, has the Delaware heard 
n gun that he knows. Your young men will never come back.” 

A short and sullen pause succeeded this bold assertion. 
Duncan, who understood the Mohican to allude to the fatal rifle 
of the scout, bent forward in earnest observation of the effect it 
might produce on the conquerors ; but the chief was content 
w'ith simply retorting, — 

“ If the Lenape are so skilful, why is one of their bravest 
w'arriors here ?” 

“ He followed in the steps of a flying coward, and fell into a 
snare. The cunning beaver may be caught.” 

As Uncas thus replied, he pointed with his finger towards 
the solitary Huron, but without deigning to bestow any other 
notice on so unworthy an object. The w'ords of the answer 
and the air of the speaker produced a strong sensation among 
his auditors. Every eye rolled sullenly towards the individual 
indicated by the simple gesture, and a low, threatening murmur 
passed through the crowd. The ominous sounds reached the 
outer door, and the women and children pressing into the throng, 
no gap had been left, between shoulder and shoulder, that was 
not now tilled with the dark lineaments of some eager and 
curious human countenance. 

In the mean time, the more aged chiefs, in the centre, 
communed with each other in short and broken sentences. 
Not a w'ord was uttered that did not convey the meaning of the 
speaker, in the simplest and most energetic form. Again, a 
long and deeply solemn pause took place. It was known, by 
all present, to be the grave precursor of a weighty and important 
judgment. They who composed the outer circle of faces w'ero 
on tiptoe to gaze ; and even the culprit for an instant forgot 
his shame in a deeper emotion, and exposed his abject features, 
in order to cast an anxious and troubled glance at the dark 
assemblage of chiefs. The silence was tinally broken by the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


307 


ilged warrior so often named. He arose from the earth, and 
moving past the immovable form of Uncas, placed himself in a 
dignified attitude before the offender. At that moment, the 
withered squaw already mentioned moved into the circle, in a 
slow, sideling sort of a dance, holding the torch, and muttering 
the indistinct words of what might have been a species of 
incantation. Though her presence was altogether an intrusion, 
it was unheeded. 

Approaching Uncas, she held the blazing brand in such a 
manner as to cast its red glare on his person, and to expose the 
slightest emotion of his countenance. The Mohican maintained 
his. firm and haughty attitude ; and his eye, so far from 
deigning to meet her inquisitive look, dwelt steadily on the 
distance, as though it penetrated the obstacles which impeded 
the view, and looked into futurity. Satisfied with her examina- 
tion, she left him, with a slight expression of pleasure, and 
proceeded to practise the same trying experiment on her 
delinquent countryman. 

The young Huron was in his war paint, and very little of a 
finely moulded form was concealed by his attire. The light 
rendered every limb and joint discernible, and Duncan turned 
away in horror when he saw they were writhing in irrepressible 
ao-ony. The woman was commencing a low and plaintive howl 
at the 'sad and shameful spectacle, when the chief put forth his 
hand and gently pushed her aside. 

“ Reed-that-bends,” he said, addressing the young culprit by 
name, and in his proper language, “ though the Great Spirit has 
made you pleasant to the eyes, it would have been better that 
you had not been born. Your tongue is loud in the village, 
but in battle it is still. None of my young men strike the 
tomahawk deeper into the war-post — none of them so lightly 
on the Yengeese. The enemy know the shape of your back, 
but they have never seen the color of your eyes. Three times 
have they called on you to come, and as often did you forget to 
answer. Your name will never be mentioned again in your 
tribe — it is already forgotten.” 


808 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


As the chief slowly uttered these words, pausing impressively 
between each sentence, the culprit raised his face, in deference 
to the other’s rank and years. Shame, horror, and pride strug- 
gled in its lineaments. His eye, which was contracted with 
inward anguish, gleamed on the persons of those whose breath 
was his fame ; and the latter emotion for an instant predomi- 
nated. He arose to his feet, and baring his bosom, looked 
steadily on the keen, glittering knife, that was already upheld 
by his inexorable judge. As the weapon passed slowly into his 
heart he even smiled, as if in joy at having found death less 
dreadful than he had anticipated, and fell heavily on his face, at 
the feet of the rigid and unyielding form of Uncas. 

The squaw gave a loud and plaintive yell, dashed the torch 
to the earth, and buried everything in darkness. The whole 
shuddering group of spectators glided from the lodge, like 
troubled sprites; and Duncan thought that he and the yet 
throbbing body of the victim of an Indian judgment had now 
become its only tenants. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


309 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

Thus spoke the sage : the kings without delay 
Dissolve the council, and their chief obey. 

Fopb’s Iuad. 

A siKGLE moment served to convince the youth that he was 
mistaken. A hand was laid, with a powerful pressure, on his 
arm, and the low voice of Uncas muttered in his ears — 

“ The Hurons are dogs. The sight of a coward’s blood can 
never make a warrior tremble. The ‘ Grey Head ’ and the 
Sagamore are safe, and the rifle of Hawk-eye is not asleep. Go 
— Uncas and the ‘ Open hand ’ are now strangers. It is 
enough.” 

Heyward would gladly have heard more, but a gentle push 
from his friend urged him towards the door, and admonished 
him of the danger that might attend the discovery o( their 
intercourse. Slowly and reluctantly yielding to the necessity, 
he quitted the place, and mingled with the throng that hovered 
nigh. The dying fires in the clearing cast a dim and uncertain 
light on the dusky figures that were silently stalking to and fro ; 
and occasionally a brighter gleam than common glanced into 
the lodge, and exhibited the figure of Uncas still maintaining 
its upright attitude near the dead body of the Huron. 

A knot of warriors soon entered the place again, and re-issu- 
ing, they bore the senseless remains into the adjacent woods. 
After this termination of the scene, Duncan wandered among 
the lodges, unquestioned and unnoticed, endeavoring to find 
some trace of her in whose behalf he incurred the risk he ran. 
In the present temper of the tribe, it would have been easy to 
have fled and rejoined his companions, had such a wish crossed 
his mind. But, in addition to the never-ceasing anxiety on 


310 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


account of Alice, a fresher, though feebler, interest in the fate of 
Uncas assisted to chain him to the spot. He continued, there- 
fore, to stray from hut to hut, looking into each only to 
encounter additional disappointment, until he had made the 
entire circuit of the village. Abandoning a species of inquiry 
that proved so fruitless, he retraced his steps to the council 
lodge, resolved to seek and question David, in order to put an 
end to his doubts. 

On reaching the building whicli had proved alike the seat of 
judgment and the place of execution, the young man found that 
the excitement had already subsided. The warriors had 
re-assembled, and were now calmly smoking, while they 
conversed gravely on the chief incidents of their recent expe- 
dition to the head of the Horican. Though the return of 
Duncan was likely to remind them of his character, and the 
suspicious circumstances of his visit, it produced no visible 
sensation. So far, the terrible scene that had just occurred 
proved favorable to his views, and he required no other prompter 
than his own feelings to convince him of the expediency of 
profiting by so unexpected an advantage. 

Without seeming to hesitate, he walked into the lodge, and 
took his seat with a gravity that accorded admirably with the 
deportment of his hosts. A hasty but searching glance sufficed 
to tell him that, though Uncas still remained where he had left 
him, David had not re-appeared. No other restraint was 
imposed on the^ former than the watchful looks of a young 
Huron, who had placed himself at hand ; though an armed 
warrior leaned against the post that formed one side of the 
narrow door-way. In every other respect, the captive seemed 
at liberty ; still he was excluded from all participation in the 
discourse, and possessed much more of the air of some finely 
moulded statue than a man having life and volition. 

Heyward had too recently witnessed a frightful instance of 
the prompt punishments of the people into wdiose hands he had 
fallen, to hazard an exposure by any officious boldness. He 
would greatly have preferred silence and meditation to speech, 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 311 

when a discovery of his real condition might prove so instantly 
fatal. Unfoilunately for this prudent resolution, his entertainers 
appeared otherwise disposed. He had not long occupied the 
seat wisely taken a little in the shade, when another of the 
elder warriors, who spoke the French language, addressed him — 

“ My Canada father does not forget his children,” said the 
chief; “ I thank him. An evil spirit lives in the wife of one of 
ray young men. Can the cunning stranger frighten him 
away ?” 

Heyward possessed some knowledge of the mummery prac- 
tised among the Indians, in the cases of such supposed visita- 
tions. He saw, at a glance, that the circumstance might 
possibly be improved to further his own ends. It would, there- 
fore, have been difficult, just then, to have uttered a proposal 
that would have given him more satisfaction. Aware of the 
necessity of preserving the dignity of his imaginary character, 
however, he repressed his feelings, and answered with suitable 
mystery — 

“Spirits differ; some yield to the power of wisdom, while 
others are too strong.” 

“ My brother is a great medicine,” said the cunning savage ; 
“he will try?” 

A gesture of assent w^as the answer. The Huron w'as content 
with the assurance, and resuming his pipe, he awaited the 
proper moment to move. The impatient Heyward, inwardly 
execrating the cold customs of the savages, which required such 
sacrifices to appearance, was fain to assume an air of indifference, 
equal to that maintained by the chief, who was, in truth, a near 
relative of the afflicted w'oman. The minutes lingered, and the 
delay had seemed an hour to the adventurer in empiricism, 
when the Huron laid aside his pipe, and drew his robe across 
his breast, as if about to lead the way to the lodge of the 
invalid. Just then, a w'arrior of powerful frame darkened the 
door, and stalking silently among the attentive group, he seated 
himself on one end of the low pile of brush which sustained 
Duncan. The latter cast an impatient look at his neighbor, and 


312 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


felt his flesh creep with uncontrollable horror when he found 
himself in actual contact with Magua. 

The sudden return of this artful and dreaded chief caused a 
delay in the departure of the Huron. Several pipes, that had 
been extinguished, were lighted again ; while the new comer, 
without speaking a word, drew his tomahawk from his girdle, 
and filling the. bowl on its head, began to inhale the vapors of 
the weed through the hollow handle, with as much indifterence 
as if he had not been absent two weary days on a long and 
toilsome hunt. Ten minutes, which appeared so many ages to 
Duncan, might have passed in this manner ; and the warriors 
were fairly enveloped in a cloud of white smoke before any of 
them spoke. 

“ Welcome !” one at length uttered ; “ has my friend found 
the moose ?” 

“The young men stagger under their burdens,” returned 
Magua. “ Let ‘Reed-that-bends ’ go on the hunting path ; he 
will meet them.” 

A deep and awful silence succeeded the utterance of the 
forbidden name. Each pipe dropped from the lips of its owner 
as though all had inhaled an impurity at the same instant. 
The smoke wreathed above their heads in little eddies, and 
curling in a spiral form, it ascended swiftly through the 
opening in the roof of the lodge, leaving the place beneath clear 
of its fumes, and each dark visage distinctly visible. The looks 
of most of the warriors were riveted on the earth ; though a 
few of the younger and less gifted of the party suffered their 
wild and glaring eye-balls to roll in the direction of a w'hite- 
headed savage, who. sat between two of the most venerated 
chiefs of the tribe. There was nothing in the air or attire of 
this Indian that would seem to entitle him to such a distinction. 
The former was rather depressed, than remarkable for the 
bearing of the natives ; and the latter was such as was 
commonly worn by the ordinary men of the nation. Like most 
around him, for more than a minute his look too was on the 
ground ; but, trusting his eyes at length to steal a glance aside, 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


313 


te perceived tliat he was becoming an object of general atten- 
tion. Then he arose and lifted his voice in the general silence. 

“ It was a lie,” he said ; “ I had no son. He who was called 
by that name is forgotten ; his blood was pale, and it came not 
from the veins of a Huron ; the wicked Chippewas cheated my 
squaw. The Great Spirit has said, that the family of Wiss-en- 
tush should end — he is happy who knows that the evil of his 
race dies with himself. I have done.” 

The speaker, who was the father of the recreant young Indian, 
looked round and about him, as if seeking commendation of 
his stoicism in the eyes of his auditors. But the stern customs 
of liis people had made too severe an exaction of the feeble old 
man. The expression of his eye contradicted his figurative and 
boastful language, while every muscle in his wrinkled visage 
was working with anguish. Standing a single minute to enjoy 
his bitter triumph, he turned away, as if sickening at the gaze 
of men, and veiling his face in his blanket, he walked from the 
lodge with the noiseless step of an Indian, seeking, in the 
privacy of his own abode, the sympathy of one like himself, aged, 
forlorn, and childless. * ✓ 

The Indians, who believe in the hereditary transmission of 
virtues and defects in character, suffered him to depart in silence. 
Then, with an elevation of breeding that many in a more 
cultivated state of society might profitably emulate, one of the 
chiefs drew the attention of the young men from the weakness 
they had just witnessed, by saying, in a cheerful voice, address- 
ing himself in courtesy to Magua, as the newest comer — 

“The Delawares have been like bears after the honeypots, 
prowling around my village. But who has ever found a Huron 
asleep ?” 

The darkness of the impending cloud which precedes a burst 
of thunder was not blacker than the brow of Magua as he 
exclaimed — 

“ The Delawares of the Lakes !” 

“ Not so. They who wear the petticoats of squaws, on their 
own river. One of them has been passing the tribe.” 

14 


314 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ Did my young men take his scalp ?” 

“ His legs were good, though liis arm is better for the hoe 
than the tomahawk,” returned the other, pointing to the 
immovable form of Uncas. 

Instead of manifesting any womanish curiosity to feast his 
eyes with the sight of a captive from a people he was known to 
have so much reason to hate, Magua continued to smoke, with 
the meditative air that he usually maintained, when there was 
no immediate call on his cunning or his eloquence. Although 
secretly amazed at the facts communicated by the speech of the 
aged father, he permitted himself to ask no questions, reserving 
his inquiries for a more suitable moment. It was only after a 
sufficient interval that he shook the ashes from his pipe, 
replaced the tomahawk, tightened his girdle, and arose, casting 
for the first time a glance in the direction of the prisoner, who 
stood a little behind him. The wary, though seemingly 
abstracted Uncas, caught a glimpse of the movement, and 
turning suddenly to the light, their looks met. Near a minute 
these two bold and untamed spirits stood regarding one another 
steadily in the eye, neither quailing in the least before the fierce 
gaze he encountered. The form of Uncas dilated, and his 
nostrils opened like those of a tiger at bay ; but so rigid and 
unyielding was his posture, that he might easily have been 
converted by the imagination into an exquisite and faultless 
representation of the warlike deity of his tribe. The lineaments 
of the quivering features of Magua proved more ductile ; his 
countenance gradually lost its character of defiance in an 
expression of ferocious joy, and heaving a breath from the very 
bottom of his chest, he pronounced aloud the formidable name 
of — 

“LeCerf agile!” 

Each warrior sprang upon his feet at the utterance of the well- 
known appellation, and there was a short period during which 
the stoical constancy of the natives was completely conquered by 
surprise. The hated and yet respected name was repeated as 
by one voice, carrying the sound even beyond the limits of the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


315 


lodge. The women and children, who lingered around the en- 
trance, took up the words in an echo, which was succeeded by 
another shrill and plaintive howl. The latter was not yet ended, 
when the sensation among the men had entirely abated. Each 
one in presence seated himself, as though ashamed of his preci- 
pitation ; but it was many minutes before their meaning eyes 
ceased to roll towards their captive, in curious examination of a 
warrior who had so often proved his prowess on the best and 
proudest of their nation. Uncas enjoyed his victory, but was 
content with merely exhibiting his triumph by a quiet smile — 
an emblem of scorn which belongs to all time and every nation. 

Magua caught the expression, and raising his arm, he shook 
it at the captive — the light silver ornaments attached to his 
bracelet rattling with the trembling agitation of the limb, as, in a 
tone of vengeance, he exclaimed, in English — 

“ Mohican, you die !” 

“ The healing waters will never bring the dead Hurons to 
life,” returned Uncas, in the music of the Delawares; “the 
tumbling river washes their bones ; their men are squaws ; 
their women owls. Go — call together the Huron dogs, that 
they may look upon a warrior. My nostrils are offended ; they 
scent the blood of a coward.” 

The latter allusion struck deep, and the injury rankled. 
Many of the Hurons understood the strange tongue in which 
the captive spoke, among which number was Magua. This 
cunning savage beheld, and instantly profited by his advantage. 
Dropping the light robe of skin from his shoulder, he stretched 
forth his arm, and commenced a burst of his dangerous and 
artful eloquence. However much his influence among his 
people had been impaired by his occasional and besetting weak- 
ness, as well as by his desertion of the tribe, his courage and 
his fame as an orator were undeniable. He never spoke with- 
out auditors, and rarely without making converts to his opinions. 
On the present occasion, his native powers were stimulated by 
the thirst of revenge. 

He again recounted the events of the attack on the Island at 


316 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Glenn’s ; the death of his associates ; and the escape of their 
most formidable enemies. Then he described the nature and 
position of the mount whither he had led such captives as had 
fallen into their hands. Of his own bloody intentions towards 
the maidens, and of his baffled malice he made no mention, but 
passed rapidly on to the surprise of the party by “ La longue 
Carabine,” and its fatal termination. Here he paused, and 
looked about him, in affected veneration for the departed, but, 
in truth, to note the effect of his opening narrative. As usual, 
every eye was riveted on his face. Each dusky figure seemed a 
breathing statue, so motionless was the posture, so intense the 
attention of the individual. 

Then Magua dropped his voice, which had hitherto been 
clear, strong, and elevated, and touched upon the merits of the 
dead. No quality that was likely to command the sympathy of 
an Indian escaped his notice. One had never been known to 
follow the chase in vain ; another liad been indefatigable on the 
trail of their enemies. This was brave, that generous. In 
short, he so managed his allusions, that in a nation which was 
composed of so few families, he contrived to strike every chord 
that might find, in its turn, some breast in which to vibrate. 

“ Are the bones of my young men,” he concluded, “ in the 
burial-place of the Hurons ? You know they are not. Their 
spirits are gone towards the setting sun, and are already crossing 
the great waters, to the happy hunting grounds. But they 
departed without food, without guns or knives, without mocca- 
sins, naked and poor as they were born. Shall this be ? Are 
their souls to enter the land of the just like hungry Iroquois or 
unmanly Delawares ; or shall they meet their friends with arms 
in their hands and robes on their backs ? What will our 
fathers think the tribes of the Wyandots have become ? They 
will look on their children with a dark eye, and say, Go ; a 
Chippewa has come hither with the name of a Huron. 
Brothers, we must not forget the dead ; a red-skin never ceases 
to remember. We will lo.ad the back of this Mohican until he 
staggers under our bounty, and dispatch him after my young 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


317 


men. They call to ns for aid, though our ears are not open ; 
they say, Forget us not. When tliey see the spirit of this 
Mohican toiling after them with his burden, they will know we 
are of that mind. Then will they go on happy ; and our 
children will say, ‘ So did our fathers to their friends, so must w^e 
do to them.’ What is a Yengee? we have slain many, but the 
earth is still pale. A stain on the name of a Huron can only be 
hid by blood that comes from the veins of an Indian. Let this 
Delaware die.” 

The effect of such an harangue, delivered in the nervous 
language and with the emphatic manner of a Huron orator, 
could scarcely be mistaken. Magua had so artfully blended 
the natural sympathies with the religious superstition of his 
auditors, that their minds, already prepared by custom to sacri- 
6ce a victim to the manes of their countrymen, lost every 
vestige of humanity in a wish for revenge. One warrior in 
particular, a man of wild and ferocious mien, had been 
conspicuous for the attention he had given to the words of the 
speaker. His countenance had changed with each passing 
emotion, until it settled into a look of deadly malice. As 
Magua ended he arose, and uttering the yell of a demon, his 
polished little axe was seen glancing in the torch-light as he 
whirled it above his head. The motion and the cry were too 
sudden for words to interrupt his bloody intention. It appeared 
as if a bright gleam shot from his hand, wliicli was crossed at 
the same moment by a dark and powerful line. The former 
was the tomahawk in its passage ; the latter the arm that 
Magua darted forward to divert its aim. The quick and ready 
motion of the chief was not entirely too late. The keen weapon 
cut the war-plume from the scalping tuft of Uncas, and passed 
through the frail wall of the lodge as though it were hurled 
from some formidable engine. 

Duncan had seen the threatening action, and sprang upon his 
feet, with a heart which, while it leaped into his throat, swelled 
with the most generous resolution in behalf of his friend. A 
glance told him that the blow had failed, and terror changed to 


318 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


admiration. Uncas stood still, looking his enemy in the eye 
with features that seemed superior to emotion. Marble could 
not be colder, calmer, or steadier than the countenance he put 
upon this sudden and vindictive attack. Then, as if pitying a 
want of skill which had proved so fortunate to himself, he 
smiled, and muttered a few words of contempt in his own tongue. 

“ No !” said Magua, after satisfying himself of the safety of 
the captive ; “ the sun must shine on his shame ; the squaws 
must see his flesh tremble, or our revenge will be like the play 
of boys. Go — take him where there is silence ; let us see if a 
Delaware can sleep at night, and in the morning die.” 

The young men whose duty it was to guard the prisoner 
instantly passed their ligaments of bark across his arms, and 
led him from the lodge, amid a profound and ominous silence. 
It was only as the figure of Uncas stood in the opening of the 
door that his firm step hesitated. There he turned, and, in 
the sweeping and haughty glance that he threw" around the 
circle of his enemies, Duncan caught a look, w^hich he was glad 
to construe into an expression that he was not entirely deserted 
by hope. 

Magua was content with his success, or too much occupied 
with his secret purposes to push his inquiries any further. 
Shaking his mantle, and folding it on his bosom, he also quitted 
the place, without pursuing a subject which might have proved 
so fatal to the individual at his elbow. Notwithstanding his 
rising resentment, his natural firmness, and his anxiety in behalf 
of Uncas, Heyward felt sensibly relieved by the absence of so 
dangerous and so subtle a foe. The excitement produced by 
the speech gradually subsided. The warriors resumed their 
seats, and clouds of smoke once more filled the lodge. For 
near half an hour, not a syllable was uttered, or scarcely a look 
cast aside — a grave and meditative silence being in the ordinary 
succession to every scene of violence and commotion amongst 
those beings, who were alike so impetuous and yet so self- 
restrained. 

When the chief who had solicited the aid of Duncan finished 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


31 ^ 


his pipe, he made a final and successful movement towards 
departing. A motion of a finger was the intimation he gave 
the supposed physician to follow ; and passing through the 
clouds of smoke, Duncan was glad, on more accounts than one, 
to be able, at last, to breathe the pure air of a cool and refresh- 
ing summer evening. 

Instead of pursuing his way among those lodges where Hey- 
ward had already made his unsuccessful search, his companion 
turned aside, and proceeded directly towards the base of an 
adjacent mountain, which overhung the temporary village. A 
thicket of brush skirted its foot, and it became necessary to pro- 
ceed through a crooked and narrow path. The boys had re- 
sumed their sports in the clearmg, and were enacting a mimic 
chase to the post among themselves. In order to render their 
games as like the reality as possible, one of the boldest of their 
number had conveyed a few brands into some piles of tree-tops 
that had hitherto escaped the burning. The blaze of one of 
these fires lighted the way of the chief and Duncan, and gi-ve a 
character of additional wildness to the rude scenery. At a little 
distance from a bald rock, and directly in its front, they entered 
a grassy opening, which they prepared to cross. Just then 
fresh fuel was added to the fire, and a powerful light penetrated 
even to that distant spot. It fell upon the white surface of the 
mountain, and was -reflected downwards upon a dark and 
mysterious-looking being that arose, unexpectedly, in their 
path. 

The Indian paused, as if doubtful whether to proceed, and 
permitted his companion to approach his side. A large black 
ball, which at first seemed stationary, now began to move in a 
manner that to the latter was inexplicable. Again the fire 
brightened, and its glare fell more distinctly on the object. 
Then even Duncan knew it, by its restless and sideling attitudes, 
which kept the upper part of its form in constant motion, 
while the animal itself appeared seated, to be a bear. Though 
it growled loudly and fiercely, and there were instants when 
its glistening eyeballs might be seen, it gave no other indications 


320 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


of hostility. The Huron, at least, seemed assured that the in- 
tentions of this singular intruder were peaceable, for after giving 
it an attentive examination, he quietly pursued his course. 

Duncan, who knew that the animal was often domesticated 
among the Indians, followed the example of his companion, 
believing that some favorite of the tribe had found its way into 
the thicket, in search of food. They passed it unmolested. 
Though obliged to come nearly in contact with the monster, the 
Hnron, who had at first so warily determined the character of 
his strange visitor, was now content with proceeding without 
wasting a moment in further examination ; but Heyward was 
unable to prevent his eyes from looking backward, in salutary 
watchfulness against attacks in the rear. His uneasiness was in 
no degree diminished when he perceived the beast rolling along 
their path, and following their footsteps. He would have 
spoken, but the Indian at that moment shoved aside a door of 
bark, and entered a cavern in the bosom of the mountain. 

Profiting by so easy a method of retreat, Duncan stepped 
after him, and was gladly closing the slight cover to the open- 
ing, when he felt it drawn from his hand by the beast, whose 
shaggy form immediately darkened the passage. They were 
now in a straight and long gallery, in a chasm of the rocks, 
where retreat without encountering the animal was impossible. 
Making the best of the circumstances, the young man pressed 
forward, keeping as close as possible to his conductor. The 
bear growled frequently at his heels, and once or twice its 
enormous paws were laid on his person, as if disposed to pre- 
vent his further passage into the den. 

How long the nerves of Heyward would have sustained him 
in this extraordinary situation, it might be difficult to decide ; 
for, happily, he soon found relief. A glimmer of light had 
constantly been in their front, and they now arrived at the 
place whence it proceeded. 

A large cavity in the rock had been rudely fitted to answ^er 
the purposes of many apartments. The subdivisions were sim- 
ple but ingenious, being composed of stone, sticks, and bark, 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


S21 


intermingled. Openings above admitted the light by day, and 
at night tires and torches supplied the place of the sun. Hither 
the Uurons had brought most of their valuables, especially 
those which more particularly pertained to the nation ; and 
hither, as it now appeared, the sick woman, who was believed 
to be the victim of supernatural power, had been transported 
also, under an impression that her tormentor would find more 
difficulty in making his assaults through walls of stone than 
through the leafy coverings of the lodges. The apartment 
into which Duncan and his guide first entered, had been exclu- 
sively devoted to her accommodation. The latter approached 
her bedside, which was surrounded by females, in the centre of 
whom Heyward was surprised to find his missing friend 
David. 

A single look was sufficient to apprise the pretended leech, 
that the invalid was far beyond his powers of healing. She 
lay in a sort of paralysis, indifferent to the objects which 
crowded before her sight, and happily unconscious of suffdring. 
Heyward was far from regretting that his mummeries were to 
be performed on one who was much too ill to take an interest 
in their failure or success. The slight qualm of conscience 
which had been excited by the intended deception was instantly 
appeased,^ and he began to collect his thoughts, in order to 
enact his part with suitable spirit, when he found he was about 
to be anticipated in his skill by an attempt to prove the power 
of music. 

Gamut, who had stood prepared to pour forth his spirit in 
song when the visitors entered, after delaying a moment, drew a 
strain from his pipe, and commenced a hymn that might have 
worked a miracle, had faith in its efficacy been of much avail. 
He was allowed to proceed to the close, the Indians respecting 
his imaginary infirmity, and Duncan too glad of the delay to 
ha*zard the slightest interruption. As the dying cadence of his 
strains was falling on the ears of the latter, he started aside at 
hearing them repeated behind him, in a voice half human and 
half sepulchral. Looking around, he beheld the shaggy mon- 

14 ^ 


322 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


ster seated on end in a shadow of the cavern, where, while his 
restless body swung in the uneasy manner of the animal, it 
repeated, in a sort of low growl, sounds, if not words, which 
bore some slight resemblance to the melody of the singer. 

The effect of so strange an echo on David may better be 
imagined than described. His eyes opened as if he doubted 
their truth ; and his voice became instantly mute in excess of 
wonder. A deep-laid scheme, of communicating some import- 
ant intelligence to Heyward, was driven from his recollection by 
an emotion which very nearly resembled fear, but which he 
was hiin to believe was admiration. Under its influence, he 
exclaimed aloud — “She expects you, and is at hand;” and 
precipitately left the cavern. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


323 


CHAPTER XXV. 

Snuff. Have you the lion’s part written 1 Pray you, if it be, give it me, for I am 
slow of study. 

Quince. You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring. 

Midsummer Night s Dream. 

There was a strange blending of the ridiculous with that 
which was solemn in this scene. The beast still continued its 
rolling, and apparently untiring movements, though its ludicrous 
attempt to imitate the melody of David ceased the instant the 
latter abandoned the field. The words of Gamut were, as has 
been seen, in his native tongue ; and to Duncan they seemed 
pregnant with some hidden meaning, though nothing preseAt 
assisted him in discovering the object of their allusion. A 
speedy end was, however, put to every conjecture on the subject, 
by the manner of the chief, who advanced to the bedside of the 
invalid, and beckoned away the whole group of female 
attendants that had clustered there to witness the skill of the 
stranger. He was implicitly, though reluctantly, obeyed ; and 
when the low echo which rang along the hollow, natural 
gallery, from the distant closing door, had ceased, pointing 
towards his insensible daughter, he said — 

“ Xow let my brother show his power.” 

Thus unequivocally called on to exercise the functions of his 
assumed character, Heyward was apprehensive that the smallest 
delay might prove dangerous. Endeavoring then to collect 
his ideas, he prepared to perform that species of incantation, 
and those uncouth rites under which the Indian conjurors 
are accustomed to conceal their ignorance and impotency. 
It is more than probable that, in the disordered state 
of his thoughts, he would soon have fallen into some 
suspicious, if not fetal error, had not his incipient attempts 


324 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


been interrupted by a fierce growl fi-om the quadruped. Three 
several times did he renew his efforts to proceed, and as often 
was he met by the same unaccountable opposition, each 
interruption seeming more savage and threatening than the 
preceding”. 

“ The cunning ones are jealous,” said the Huron ; “ I go. 
Brother, the woman is the wife of one of my bravest young 
men ; deal justly by her. Peace,” he added, beckoning to the 
discontented beast to be quiet ; “ I go.” 

The chief was as good as his word, and Duncan now found 
himself alone in that wild and desolate abode, with the heljdess 
invalid, and the fierce and dangerous brute. The latter listened 
to the movements of the Indian with that air of sagacity that a 
bear is known to possess, until another echo announced that he 
had also left the cavern, when it turned and came waddling up 
to Duncan, before whom it seated itself, in its natural attitude, 
erect like a man. The youth looked anxiously about him for 
some weapon, with which he might make a resistance against 
the attack he now seriously expected. 

It seemed, however, as if the humor of the animal had 
suddenly changed. Instead of continuing its discontented growls, 
or manifesting any further signs of anger, the whole of its 
shaggy body shook violently, as if agitated by some strange 
internal convulsion. The huge and unwieldy talons pawed 
stupidly about the grinning muzzle, and while Heyward kept 
his eyes riveted on its movements with jealous watchfulness, the 
grim head fell on one side, and in its place appeared the honest, 
sturdy countenance of the scout, who was indulging, from the 
bottom of his soul, in his own peculiar expression of merriment. 

“ Hist !” said the wary woodsman, interrupting Heyward’s 
exclamation of surprise ; “ the varlets are about the place, and 
any sounds that are not natural to witchcraft would bring them 
back upon us in a body.” 

“ Tell me the meaning of this masquerade ; and why you 
have attempted so desperate an adventure ?” 

“Ah ! reason and calculation are often outdone by accident,” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, 


325 


returned the scout. “ But-as a story should always comraence 
at the beginning, I will tell you the whole in order. After we 
parted I placed the commandant and the Sagamore in an old 
beaver lodge, where they are safer from the Hurons than they 
would be in the garrison of Edward ; for your high north-west 
Indians, not having as yet got the traders among them, 
continue to venerate the beaver. After which Uncas and I 
pushed for the other encampment, as was agreed ; have you 
seen the lad ?” - 

“To my great grief! — he is captive, and condemned to die 
at the rising of the sun.” 

“I had misgivings that such would be his fate,” resumed the 
scout, in a less confident and joyous tone. But soon regaining 
his naturally firm voice, he continued — “ His bad fortune is the 
true reason of my being here, for it would never do to abandon 
such a boy to the Hurons. A rare time the knaves would 
have of it, could they tie ‘ The bounding Elk ’ and ‘ The long 
Carabine,’ as they call me, to the same stake 1 Though why 
they have given me such a name I never knew, there being as 
little likeness between the gifts of ‘ Kill-deer ’ and the perform- 
ance of one of your real Canada carabynes, as there is between 
the natur’ of a pipe-stone and a flint!” 

“Keep to your tale,” said the impatient Heyward; “we 
know ndt at what moment the Hurons may return.” 

“No fear of them. A conjuror must have his time, like a 
straggling priest in the settlements. We are as safe from in- 
terruption as a missionary would be at the beginning of a two 
hours’ discourse. Well, Uncas and I fell in with a return 
party of the varlets ; the lad was much too forward for a scout ; 
nay, for that matter, being of hot blood, he was not so much to 
blame ; and, after all, one of the Hurons proved a coward, and 
in fleeing led him into an ambushment.” 

“ And dearly has he paid for the weakness !” 

The scout significantly passed his hand across his own throat, 
and nodded, as if he said, “ I comprehend your meaning.” 


326 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


After which he continued, in a more audible though scarcely 
more intelligible language — 

“ After the loss of the boy I turned upon the Hurons, as you 
may judge. There have been skrimmages atween one or two 
of their outlyers and myself ; but that is neither here nor there. 
So, after I had shot the imps, T got in pretty nigh to the lodges 
without further commotion. Then what should luck do in my 
favor, but lead me to the very spot where one of the most 
famous conjurors of the tribe was dressing himself, as I well 
knew, for some great battle with Satan — though why should I 
call that luck, which it now seems was an especial ordering of 
Providence. So a judgmatical rap over the head stiffened the 
lying impostor for a time, and leaving him a bit of walnut for 
his sujeper, to prevent an uproar, and stringing him up atween 
two saplings, I made free with his finery, and took the part of 
the bear on myself, in order that the operations might proceed.” 

“ And admirably did you enact the character ; the animal 
itself might have been shamed by the representation.” 

“ Lord, major,” returned the flattered woodsman, “ I should 
be but a poor scholar for one who has studied so long in the 
wilderness, did I not know how to set forth the movements and 
natur’ of such a beast. Had it been now a catamount or even a 
full-sized panther, I would have embellished a performance for 
you worth regarding. But it is no such marvellous feat to 
exhibit the feats of so dull a beast ; though, for that matter 
too, a bear may be over-acted. Yes, yes; it is not every 
imitator that knows natur’ may be outdone easier than she is 
equalled. But all our work is yet before us: where is the 
gentle one ?” 

“ Heaven knows ; I have examined every lodge in the village, 
without discovering the slightest trace of her presence in the 
tribe.” 

“ You heard what the singer said, as he left us, — ‘ She is at 
hand, and expects you.’ ” 

“ I have been compelled to believe he alluded to this unhappy 
woman.” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


327 


“The simpleton was frightened, and blundered through his 
message ; but he had a deeper meaning. Here are walls 
enough to separate the whole settlement. A bear ought to 
climb ; therefore will I take a look above them. There may be 
honey-pots hid in these rocks, and I am a beast, you know, that 
has a hankering for the sweets.” 

The scout looked behind him, laughing at his own conceit, 
while he clambered up the partition, imitating, as he went, the 
clumsy motions of the beast he represented ; but the instant 
the summit was gained he made a gesture for silence, and slid 
down with the utmost precipitation. 

“ She is here,” he whispered, “ and by that door you will find 
her. I would have spoken a word of comfort to the afflicted 
soul ; but the sight of such a monster might upset her reason. 
Though for that matter, major, you are none of the most 
inviting yourself in your paint.” 

Duncan, who had already sprung eagerly forward, drew 
instantly back on hearing these discouraging words. 

“ Am I, then, so very revolting ?” he demanded with an air 
of chagrin. 

“ You might not startle a wolf, or turn the Royal Americans 
from a charge ; but I have seen the time when you had a 
better-favored look ; your streaked countenances are not 
ill-judged! of by the squaws, but young women of white blood 
give the preference to their own color. See,” he added, 
pointing to a place where the water trickled from a rc>ck, 
forming a little crystal spring before it found an issue through 
the adjacent crevices ; “ you may easily get rid of the 

Sagamore’s daub, and when you come back I will try my hand 
at a new embellishment. It’s as common for a conjuror to 
alter his paint as for a buck in the settlements to change his 
finery.” 

The deliberate woodsman had little occasion to hunt for 
arguments to enforce his advice. He was yet speaking when 
Duncan availed himself of the water. In a moment every 
frightful or offensive mark was obliterated, and the youth 


328 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


appeared again in the lineaments with which he had been 
gifted by nature. Thus prepared for an interview with his 
mistress, he took a hasty leave of his companion, and 
disappeared through the indicated passage. The scout 
witnessed his departure with complacency, nodding his head 
after him, and muttering his good wishes ; after which he very 
coolly set about an examination of the state of the larder, among 
the Hurons — the cavern, among other purposes, being used as a 
receptacle for the fruits of their hunts. 

Duncan had no other guide than a distant glimmering light, 
which served, however, the office of a polar star to the lover. 
By its aid he was enabled to enter the haven of his hopes, which 
w^as merely another apartment of the cavern, that had been 
solely appropriated to the safe-keeping of so important a 
prisoner as a daughter of the commandant of William Henry. 
It was profusely strewed with the plunder of that unlucky 
fortress. In the midst of this confusion he found her he sought, 
pale, anxious, and terrified, but lovely. David had prepared 
her for such a visit. 

“ Duncan !” she exclaimed, in a voice that seemed to tremble 
at the sounds created by itself. 

“ Alice !” he answered, leaping carelessly among trunks, 
boxes, arms, and furniture, until he stood at her side. 

“I knew that you would never desert me,” she said, 
looking up with a momentary glow on her otherwise dejected 
countenance. “ But you are alone ! grateful as it is to be thus 
remembered, I could wish to think you are not entirely alone.” 

Duncan observing that she trembled in a manner which 
betrayed her inability to stand, gently induced her to be seated 
while he recounted those leading incidents which it has been 
our task to record. Alice listened with breathless interest ; and 
though the young man touched lightly on the sorrows of the 
stricken father, taking care, however, not to wound the self-love 
of his auditor, the. tears ran as freely down the cheeks of the 
daughter as though she had never wept before. The sootling 
tenderness of Duncan, however, soon quieted the first burst of 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


329 


lier emotions, and she then heard him to the close with 
undivided attention, if not with composure. 

“And now, Alice,” he added, “you will see how much is still 
expected of you. By the assistance of our experienced and 
invaluable friend, the scout, we may find our way from this 
savage people, hut you will have to exert your utmost fortitude. 
Kemember that you fly to the arms of your venerable parent, 
and how much his happiness, as well as your own, depends on 
those exertions.” 

“ Can I do otherwise for a father who has done so much for 
me ?” 

“ And for me too,” continued the youth, gently pressing the 
liand he held in both his own. '' 

The look of innocence and surprise which he received in 
return convinced Duncan of the necessity of being more 
explicit. 

“This is neither the place nor the occasion to detain you 
with selfish wishes,” he added ; “ but what heart loaded like 
mine would not wish to cast its burden ? They say misery is 
the closest of all ties ; our common suffering in your behalf left 
but little to be explained between your father and myself.” 

“ And dearest Cora, Duncan ; snrely Cora was not forgot- 
ten ?” 

“ Not forgotten ! no ; regretted, as woman Avas seldom 
mourned before. Your v^enerable father knew no difference 
between his children ; but I — Alice, you Avill not be offended 
when I say, that to me her worth Avas in a degree obscured — ” 

“Then you knew not the merit of my sister,” said Alice, 
AvithdraAving her hand ; “ of you she eAW speaks as of one Avho 
is her dearest friend.” 

“ I Avould gladly belie\'e her such,” returned Duncan, hastily ; 
“ I could Avish her to be eA’en more ; but Avith you, Alice, I liaA'e 
the permission of your father to aspire to a still nearer and 
dearer tic.” 

Alice trembled violently, and there Avas an instant during 
which she bent her face aside, yielding to the emotions common 


330 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


to her sex ; but they quickly passed away, leaving her mistress 
of her deportment, if not of her affections. 

“ Heyward,” she said, looking him full in the face with a 
touching expression of innocence and dependency, “give me 
the sacred presence and the holy sanction of that parent before 
you urge me further.” 

“ Though more I should not, less I could not say,” the youth 
was about to answer, when he was interrupted by a light tap on 
his shoulder. Starting to his feet, he turned, and, confronting 
the intruder, his looks fell on the dark form and malignant vis- 
age of Magua. The deep guttural laugh of the savage sounded, 
at such a moment, to Duncan like the hellish taunt of a demon. 
Had he pursued the sudden and fierce impulse of the instant, 
he would have cast himself on the Huron, and committed their 
fortunes to the issue of a deadly struggle. But, without arms 
of any description, ignorant of what succor his subtle enemy 
could command, and charged with the safety of one who was 
just then dearer than ever to his heart, he no sooner entertained 
than he abandoned the desperate intention. 

“ What is your purpose ?” said Alice, meekly folding her 
arms on her bosom, and struggling to conceal an agony of 
apprehension in behalf of Heyward, in the usual cold and 
distant manner with which she received the visits of her captor. 

The exulting Indian had resumed his austere countenance, 
though he drew warily back before the menacing glance of the 
young man’s fiery eye. He regarded both his captives for a 
moment with a steady look, and then stepping aside, he 
dropped a log of wood across a door different from that by 
which Duncan had entered. The latter now comprehended 
the manner of his surprise, and believing himself irretrievably 
lost, he drew Alice to his bosom, and stood prepared to meet a 
fate which he hardly regretted, since it was to be suffered in 
such company. But Magua meditated no immediate violence. 
His first measures were very evidently taken to secure his new 
captive ; nor did he even bestow a second glance at tho motion- 
less forms in the centre of the cavern, until he had completely 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


331 


cut oflf every hope of retreat through the private outlet he had 
himself used. He was watched in all his movements by Iley* 
ward, who, however, remained firm, still folding the fragile form 
of Alice to his heart, at once too proud and too hopeless to ask 
favor of an enemy so often foiled. When Magua had effected 
his object he approached his prisoners, and said in English — 

“ The pale-faces trap the cunning beavers ; but the redskins 
know how to take the Yengeese.” 

“ Huron, do your worst !” exclaimed the excited Heyward, 
forgetful that a double stake was involved in his life ; “ you and 
your vengeance are alike despised.” 

“Will the white man speak these words at the stake?” 
asked Magua ; manifesting, at the same time, how little faith he 
had in the other’s resolution by the sneer that accompanied his 
words. 

“ Here ; singly to your face, or in the presence of your 
nation.” 

“ Le Renard subtil is a great chief !” returned the Indian ; 
“ he wjll go and bring his young men, to see how bravely a 
pale-face can laugh at the tortures.” 

He turned away while speaking, and was about to leave the 
place through the avenue by which Duncan had approached, 
when a growl caught his ear, and caused him to hesitate. The 
figure of the bear appeared in the door, where it sat, rolling from 
side to side in its customary restlessness. Magua, like the 
father of the sick w'oman, eyed it keenly for a moment, as if to 
ascertain its character. He was far above the more vulgar 
superstitions of his tribe, and so soon as he recognised the well 
known attire of the conjuror, he prepared to pass it in cool con- 
tempt. But a louder and more threatening growl caused him 
again to pause. Then he seemed as if suddenly resolved to 
trifle no longer, and moved resolutely forward. The mimic 
animal, which had advanced a little, retired slowly in his front, 
until it arrived again at the pass, when rearing on its hinder legs 
it beat the air with its paws, in the manner practised by its 
brutal prototype. 


832 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ Fool !” exclaimed the chief, in Huron, “ go play with the 
children and squaws ; leave men to their wisdom.” 

lie once more endeavored to pass? the supposed empiric, 
scorning even the parade of threatening to use the knife, or 
tomahawk, that was pendent from his belt. Suddenly the beast 
extended its arms, or rather legs, and inclosed him in a grasp 
that might have vied with the far-famed power of the “ bear’s 
hug” itself. Heyward had watched the whole procedure, on 
the part of Hawk-eye, with breathless interest. At first he 
relinquished his hold of Alice ; then he caught up a thong of 
buckskin, which had been used around some bundle, and when 
he beheld his enemy with his two arms pinned to his side by 
the iron muscles of the scout, he rushed upon him, and effectu- 
ally secured them there. Arms, legs, and feet were encircled in 
twenty folds of the thong, in less time than we have taken to 
record the circumstance. When the formidable Huron was 
completely pinioned, the scout released his hold, and Duncan 
laid his enemy on his back, utterly helpless. 

Throughout the whole of this sudden and extraordinary ope- 
lation, Magua, though he had struggled violently, until assured 
he was in the hands of one whose nerves were far better strung 
than his own, had not uttered the slightest exclamation. But 
when Hawk-eye, by way of making a summary explanation of 
his conduct, removed the shaggy jaws of the beast, and exposed 
his own rugged and earnest countenance to the gaze of the 
Huron, the philosophy of the latter was so far mastered as to 
permit him to utter the never-failing — 

“Hugh!” 

“ Ay ! you’ve found your tongue,” said his undisturbed 
conqueror ; “ now, in order that you shall not use it to our ruin, 
I must make free to stop your mouth.” 

As there was no time to be lost, the scout immediately set 
about effecting so necessary a precaution ; and when he had 
gagged the Indian, his enemy might safely have been considered 
as “ hors de combat.” 

“By what place did the imp enter?” asked the industrioas 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


333 


scout, when his work was ended. “ Not a soul has passed my 
way since you left me.” 

Duncan pointed out the door by which Magua had come, 
and which now presented too many obstacles to a quick retreat. 

“ Bring on the gentle one then,” continued his friend ; “ we 
must make a push for the woods by the other outlet.” 

“ ’Tis impossible !” said Duncan ; “ fear has overcome her, 
and she is helpless. Alice ! my sweet, my own Alice, arouse 
yourself ; now is the moment to fly. ’Tis in vain ! she hears, 
but is unable to follow. Go noble and worthy, friend ; save 
yourself, and leave me to my fate !” 

“ Eveiy trail has its end, and every calamity brings its 
lesson !” returned the scout. “ There, wrap her in them Indian 
cloths. Conceal all of her little form. Nay, that foot has no 
fellow in the wilderness ; it will betray her. All, every part. 
Now take her in your arms, and follow. Leave the rest tome,” 

Duncan, as may be gathered from the words of his companion, 
was eagerly obeying; and as the other finished speaking, he 
took the light person of Alice in his arms, and followed on the 
footsteps of the scout. They found the sick woman as they had 
left her, still alone, and passed swiftly on, by the natural gallery, 
to the place of entrance. As they approached the little door of 
bark, a murmur of voices without announced that the friends 
and relatives of the invalid were gathered about the place, 
patiently awaiting a summons to re-enter. 

“ If I open ray lips to speak,” Hawk-eye whispered, “ my 
English, which is the genuine tongue of a white-skin, will tell 
the varlets that an enemy is among them. You must give ’em 
your jargon, major ; and say that we have shut the evil spirit 
in the cave, and are taking the wcmian to the woods in order to 
find strengthening roots. Practyse all your cunning, for it is a 
lawful undertaking.” 

The door opened a little, as if one without was listening to 
the proceedings within, and compelled the scout to cease his 
directions. A fierce growl repelled the eaves-dropper, and then 
the scout boldly threw open the covering of bark, and left the 


334 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


place, enacting the character of the bear as he proceeded. 
Duncan kept clos3 at his heels, and soon found himself in the 
centre of a cluster of twenty anxious relatives and friends. 

The crowd fell back a. little, and permitted the father, and one 
who appeared to be the husband of the woman, to approach. 

“Has my brother driven away the evil spirit?” demanded 
the former. “ What has he in his arms ?” 

“Thy child,” returned Duncan, gravely; “the disease has 
gone out of her ; it is shut up in the rocks. I take the woman 
to a distance, where I will strengthen her against an\^ further 
attacks. She shall be in the wigwam of the young man when 
the sun comes again.” 

When the father had translated the meaninof of the stranger’s 
words into the Huron language, a suppressed murmur 
announced the satisfaction with which this intelligence was 
received. The chief himself waved his hand for Duncan to 
proceed, saying aloud, in a firm voice, and with a lofty manner — 

“ Go — I am a man, and I will enter the rock and fight the 
wicked one.” 

Heyward had gladly obeyed, and was already past the little 
group, when these startling words arrested him. 

“ Is my brother mad !” he exclaimed ; “ is he cruel ! He 
will meet the disease, and it will enter him ; or he will drive 
out the disease, and it will chase his daughter into the woods. 
No — let my children wait without, and if the spirit appears 
beat him down with clubs. He is cunning, and will bury him- 
self in the mountain, when he sees how many are ready to fight 
him.” 

This singular warning had the desired effect. Instead of 
entering the cavern the father and husband drew their toma- 
hawks, and posted themselves in readiness to deal their 
vengeance on the imaginary tormentor of their sick relative, 
while the women and children broke branches from the bushes, 
or seized fragments of the rock, with a similar intention. At 
this favorable moment the counterfeit conjurors disappeared. 

Hawk-eye, at the same time that he had presumed so far on 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 335 

tTie natuie of the Indian superstitions, was not ignorant that 
they were rather tolerated than relied on l)y the wisest of the 
chiefs. He well knew the value of time in the present emer- 
gency. "Whatever might be the extent of the self-delusion of his 
enemies, and however it had tended to assist his schemes, the 
slightest cause of suspicion, acting on the subtle nature of an 
Indian, would be likely to prove fatal. Taking the path, there- 
fore, that was most likely to avoid observation, he rather skirted 
than entered the village. The warriors were still to be seen in 
the distance, by the fading light of the fires, stalking from lodge 
to lodge. But the children had abandoned their sports for 
their beds of skins, and the quiet of night was already begin- 
ning to prevail over the turbulence and excitement of so busy 
and important an evening. 

Alice revived under the renovating influence of the open air, 
and as her physical rather than her mental powers had been 
the subject of weakness, slie stood in no need of any explanation 
of that which had occurred. 

“Now let me make an effort to walk,” she said, when they 
had entered the forest, blushing, though unseen, that she had 
not been sooner able to quit the arms of Duncan; “I am 
indeed restored.” 

“ Nay, Alice, you are yet too weak.” 

The maiden struggled gently to release herself, and Heyward 
was compelled to part with his precious burden. The repre- 
sentative of the bear had certainly been an entire stranger to 
the delicious emotions of the lover while his arms encircled his 
mistress ; and he was, perhaps, a stranger also to the nature of 
that feeling of ingenuous shame that oppressed the trembling 
Alice. But when he found himself at a suitable distance from 
the lodges he made a halt, and spoke on a subject of which he 
was thoroughly the master. 

“ This path will lead you to the brook,” he said ; “ follow its 
northern bank until you come to a fall ; mount the hill 
on your right, and you will see the fires of the other people. 
There you must go, and demand protection ; if they are true 


33G 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Delawares, you will bo safe. A distant flight with that gentle 
one, just now, is impossible. The Hurons would follow up our 
trail, and master our scalps, before we had got a dozen miles. 
Go, and Providence be with you.” 

“ And you !” demanded Heyward, in surprise ; “ surely we 
part not here ?” 

“The Hurons hold the pride *of the Delawares; the last of 
the high blood of the Mohicans is in their power,” returned the 
scout ; “ I go to see what can be done in his favor. Had they 
mastered your scalp, major, a knave should have fallen for every 
hair it held, as I promised ; but if the young Sagamore is to be 
led to the stake, the Indians shall see also how a man without 
a cross can die.” 

Not in the least offended with the decided preference that 
the sturdy woodsman gave to one who might, in some degree, 
be called the child of his adoption, Duncan still continued to 
urge such reasons against so desperate an effort as presented 
themselves. He was aided by Alice, who mingled her 
entreaties with those of Heyward that he would abandon a 
resolution that promised so much danger, with so little hope of 
success. Their eloquence and ingenuity were expended in vain. 
The scout heard them attentively, but impatiently, and finally 
closed the discussion, by answering, in a tone that instantly 
silenced Alice, while it told Heyward how fruitless any further 
remonstrances would be. 

“ I have heard,” he said, “ that there is a feeling in youth 
which binds man to woman closer than the father is tied to the 
son. It may be so. I have seldom been where women of my 
color dwell ; but such may be the gifts of nature in the settle- 
ments. You have risked life, and all that is dear to you, to 
bring off this gentle one, and I suppose that some such disposi- 
tion is at the bottom of it all. As for me, I taught the lad the 
real character of a rifle ; and well has he paid me for it. I have 
fou’t at his side in many a bloody skrimmage ; and so long as I 
could hear the crack of his piece in one ear, and that of the 
Sagamore in the other, I knew no enemy was on my back. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


337 


Winters and summers, nights and days, have we roved the 
wilderness in company, eating of the same dish, one sleeping 
while the other watched ; and afore it shall be said that Uncas 

was taken to the torment, and I at hand There is but a 

single ruler of us all, whatever may be the color of the skin ; and 
him I call to witness — that before the Mohican boy shall perish 
for the want of a friend, good faith shall depart the ’arth, and 
•Kill -deer’ become as harmless as the tooting we’pon of the 
singer !” 

Duncan released his hold on the arm of the scout, who 
turned, and steadily retraced his steps towards the lodges. 
After pausing a moment to gaze at his retiring form, the 
successful and yet sorrowful Heyward, and Alice, took their way 
together towards the distant village of the Delawares. 


15 


338 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER XXVI. 

Bot. Let me play the lion too. 

Midsummer Nianx s Crbam 

Notwithstanding the high resolution of Hawk-eye, he fully 
comprehended all the difficulties and dangers he was about to 
incur. In his return to the camp, his acute and practised 
intellects were intently engaged in devising means to counteract 
a watchfulness and suspicion on the part of his enemies, that he 
knew were, in no degree, inferior to his own. Nothing but the 
color of his skin had saved the lives of Magua and the conjuror, 
who w^ould have been the first victims sacrificed to his own 
security, had not the scout believed such an act, however 
congenial it might be to the nature of an Indian, utterly 
unworthy of one who boasted a descent from men that knew no 
cross of blood. Accordingly, he trusted to the withes and 
ligaments with which he had bound his captives, and pursued 
his way directly towards the centre of the lodges. 

As he approached the buildings, his steps became more 
deliberate, and his vigilant eye suffered no sign, whether 
friendly or hostile, to escape him. A neglected hut was a 
little in advance of the others, and appeared as if it had been ' 
deserted when half completed — most probably on account of 
failing in some of the more important requisites ; such as wood » 
or water. A faint light glimmered through its cracks, how- 
ever, and announced that, notwithstanding its imperfect struc- 
ture, it was not without a tenant. Thither, then, the scout 
proceeded, like a prudent general, who w^as about to feel the 
advanced positions of his enemy, before he hazarded the main 
attack. 

Throwing himself into a suitable posture for the beast ho 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


. 339 


represented, Hawk-eye crawled to a little opening, where he 
might command a view of the interior. It proved to be the 
abiding-place of David Gamut. Hither the faithful singing- 
master had now brought himself, together with all his sorrows, 
his apprehensions, and his meek dependence on the protection 
of Providence. At the precise moment when his ungainly 
person came under the observation of the scout, in the manner 
just mentioned, the woodsman himself, though in his assumed 
character, was the subject of the solitary being’s profoundest 
reflections. 

However implicit the faith of David was in the performance 
of ancient miracles, he eschewed the belief of any direct super- 
natural agency in the management of modern morality. In 
other words, while he had implicit faith in the ability of 
Balaam’s ass to speak, he was somewhat sceptical on the sub- 
ject of a bear’s singing ; and yet he had been assured of the 
latter, on the testimony of his own exquisite organs. There 
was something in his air and manner that betrayed to the 
scout the utter confusion of the state of his mind. He was 
seated on a pile of brush, a few twigs from which occasionally 
fed his low fire, with his head leaning on his arm, in a posture 
of melancholy musing. The costume of the votary of music 
had undergone no other alteration from that so lately described, 
except thpt he had covered his bald head with the triangular 
beaver, which had not proved sufficiently alluring to excite the 
cupidity of any of his captors. 

The ingenious Hawk-eye, who recalled the hasty manner in 
which the other had abandoned his post at the bedside of the 
sick woman, was not without his suspicions concerning the 
subject of so much solemn deliberation. First making the 
circuit of the hut, and ascertaining that it stood quite alone, and 
that the character of its inmate was likely to protect it from 
visitors, he ventured through its low door, into the very pre- 
sence of Gamut. The position of the latter brought the fire 
betvvecn them ; and when Hawk-eye had seated himself on 
end, near a minute elapsed, during which the two remained 


340 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


regarding each other without speaking. The suddenness and 
the nature of the surprise had nearly proved too much for — we 
will not say the philosophy— but for the faith and resolution of 
David. He fumbled for his pitch-pipe, and arose with a con- 
fused intention of attempting a musical exorcism. 

Dark and mysterious monster !” he exclaimed, while with 
trembling hands he disposed of his auxiliary eyes, and sought 
his never-failing resource in trouble, the gifted version of the 
Psalms ; “ I know not your nature nor intents ; but if aught 
you meditate against the person and rights of one of the hum- 
blest servants of the temple, listen to the inspired language of 
the youth of Israel, and repent.” 

The bear shook his shaggy sides, and then a well known 
voice replied — 

“ Put up the tooting we’pon, and teach your throat modesty. 
Five words of plain and comprehendible English are worth, just 
now, an hour of squalling.” 

“ What art thou ?” demanded David, utterly disqualified to 
pursue his original intention, and nearly gasping for breath. 

“A man like yourself ; and one whose blood is as little 
tainted by the cross of a bear, or an Indian, as your own. 
Have you so soon forgotten from whom you received the foolish 
instrument you hold in your hand ?” 

“ Can these things be ?” returned David, breathing more 
freely, as the truth began to dawn upon him. “ I have found 
many marvels during my sojourn with the heathen, but surely 
nothing to excel this !” 

“ Come, come,” returned Hawk-eye, uncasing his honest 
countenance, the better to assure the wavering confidence of his 
companion ; “ you may see a skin, which, if it be not as white 
as one of the gentle ones, has no tinge of red to it that the 
winds of the heaven and the sun have not bestowed. How let 
us to business.” 

“ First tell me of the maiden, and of the youth who so 
bravely sought her,” interrupted David. 


T HE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


341 


“ Ay, they are happily freed from the tomahawks of these 
varlets. But can you put me on the scent of Uncas ?” 

“ The young man is in bondage, and much I fear his death 
is decreed. I greatly mourn that one so well disposed should 
die in his ignorance, and I have sought a goodly hymn — ” 

“ Can you lead me to him ?” 

“ The t;isk will not be difficult,” returned David, hesitating ; 
“ though I greatly fear your presence would rather increase 
than mitigate his unhappy fortunes.” 

“ No more words, but lead on,” returned Hawk-eye, conceal- 
ing his face again, and setting the example in his own person, 
by instantly quitting the lodge. 

As they proceeded, the scout ascertained that his companion 
found access to Uncas, under privilege of his imaginary infirmity, 
aided by the favor he had acquired with one of the guards, who, 
in consequence of speaking a little English, had been selected by 
David as the subject of a religious conversion. How far the 
Huron comprehended the intentions of his new friend, may well 
be doubted ; but as exclusive attention is as flattering to a 
savage as to a more civilized individual, it had produced the 
effect we have mentioned. It is unnecessary to repeat the 
shrewd manner with which the scout extracted these particulars 
from the simple David ; neither shall we dwell in this place on 
the native of the instructions he delivered, when completely 
master of all the necessary facts ; as the whole will be suffi- 
ciently explained to the reader in the course of the narrative. 

The lodge in which Uncas was confined was in the very 
centre of the village, and in a situation, perhaps, more difficult 
than any other to approach, or leave, without observation. But 
it was not the policy of Hawk-eye to aflect the least conceal- 
ment. Presuming on his disguise, and his ability to sustain the 
character he had assumed, he took the most plain and direct 
route to the place. The hour, however, afforded him some 
little of that protection which he appeared so much to despise. 
The boys were already buried in sleep, and all the women, and 
most of the warriors, had retired to their lodges for the night 


342 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Four or five of the latter only lingered about the door of the 
prison of Uncas, wary but close observers of the manner of their 
captive. 

At the sight of Gamut, accompanied by one in the well 
known masquerade of their most distinguished conjuror, they 
readily made way for them both. Still they betrayed no inten- 
tion to depart. On the other hand, they were evidently dis- 
posed to remain bound to the place by an additional interest in 
the mysterious mummeries that they of course expected from 
such a visit. 

From the total inability of the scout to address the Hurons in 
Iheir own language, he was compelled to trust the conversation 
entirely to David. Notwithstanding the simplicity of the latter, 
he did ample justice to the instructions he had received, more 
than fulfilling the strongest hopes of his teacher. 

“ The Delawares are women !” he exclaimed, addressing 
himself to the savage who ’had a slight understanding of the 
language in which he spoke ; “ the Yengeese, my foolish coun- 
trymen, have told them to take up the tomahawk, and strike 
their fathers in the Canadas, and they have forgotten their sex. 
Does my brother wish to hear ‘ Le Cerf agile ’ ask for his petti- 
coats, and see him weep before the Hurons, at the stake ?” 

The exclamation “ hugh !’’ delivered in a strong tone of 
assent, announced the gratification the savage would receive in 
witnessing such an exhibition of weakness in an enemy so long 
hated and so much feared. 

“ Then let him step aside, and the cunning man will blow 
upon the dog ! Tell it to my brothers.” 

The Huron explained the meaning of David to his fellows, 
who, in their turn, listened to the project with that sort of satis- 
faction that their untamed spirits might be expected to find in 
such a refinement in cruelty. They drew back a little from the 
entrance, and motioned to the supposed conjuror to enter. 13 ut 
the bear, instead of obeying, maintained the seat it had taken, 
and growled. 

“The cunning man is afraid that his breath will blow upon 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 343 

his brothers', ar.d take away their courage too,” continued 
David, improving the hint he received ; “ they must stand fur- 
ther off.” 

Tlie Hurons, who would have deemed such a misfortune the 
heaviest calamity that could befall them, fell back in a body, 
taking a position where they were out of earshot, though at the 
same time they could command a view of the entrance to the 
lodge. Then, as if satisfied of their safety, the scout left his 
position, and slowly entered the place. It was silent and 
gloomy, being tenanted solely by the captive, and lighted by 
the dying embers of a fire, which had been used for the pur- 
poses of cookery. 

Uncas occupied a distant corner, in a reclining attitude, being 
rigidly bound, both hands and feet, by strong and painful 
withes. When the frightful object first presented itself to the 
young Mohican, he did not deign to bestow a single glance on 
the animal. The scout, who had left David at the door, to 
ascertain they were not observed, thought it prudent to preserve 
his disguise until assured of their privacy. Instead of speaking, 
therefore, he exerted himself to enact one of the antics of the 
animal he represented. The young Mohican, who at first 
believed his enemies had sent in a real beast to torment him, 
and try his nerves, detected, in those performances that to 
Heyward had appeared so accurate, certain blemishes, that at 
once betrayed the counterfeit. Had Hawk-eye been aware of 
the low estimation in which the more skilful Uncas held his 
representations, he would probably have prolonged the enter- 
tainment a little in pique. But the scornful expression of the 
young man’s eye admitted of so many constructions, that the 
worthy scout was spared the mortification of such a discovery. 
As soon, therefore, as David gave the preconcerted signal, a 
low hissing sound was heard in the lodge, in place of the fierce 
growlings of the bear. 

Uncas had cast his body back against the wall of the hut, 
and closed his eyes, as if willing to exclude so contemptible and 
disagreeable an object from his sight. But the moment the 


344 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


noise of the serpent was heard, he arose, and cast his looks on 
each side of him, bending his head low, and turning it inquir- 
ingly in every direction, until his keen eye rested on the shaggy 
monster, where it remained riveted, as though fixed by the 
power of a charm. Again the same sounds were repeated, evi- 
dently proceeding from the mouth of the beast. Once more 
the eyes of the youth roamed over the interior of the lodge, 
and returning to their former resting-place, he uttered, in a deep, 
suppressed voice — 

“ Hawk-eye !” 

“ Cut his bands,’’ said Hawk-eye to David, who just then 
approached them. 

The singer did as he was ordered, and Uncas found his limbs 
released. At the same moment the dried skin of the animal 
rattled, and presently the scout arose to his feet, in proper per- 
son. The Mohican appeared to comprehend the nature of the 
attempt his friend had made, intuitively ; neither tongue nor 
feature betraying another symptom of surprise. When Hawk- 
eye had cast his shaggy vestment, which was done by simply 
loosing certain thongs of skin, he drew a long glittering knife, 
and put it in the hands of Uncas. 

“ The red Hurons are without,” he said ; “ let us be ready.” 

At the same time he laid his finger significantly on another 
similar weapon, both being the fruits of his prowess among 
their enemies during the evening. 

“We will go,” said Uncas. 

“ Whither ?” 

“ To the Tortoises ; they are the children of my grandfathers.” 

“ Ay, lad,” said the scout in English — a language he was 
apt to use when a little abstracted in mind ; “ the same blood 
runs in your veins, I believe ; but time and distance has a little 
changed its color. What shall we do with the Mingoes at the 
door ? They count six, and this singer is as good as nothing ” 

“ The Hurons are boasters,” said Uncas scornfully ; “ their 
‘ totem’ is a moose, and they run like snails. The Delawares 
are children of the tortoise, and they outstrip the deer.” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


345 


“ Ay, lad, there is truth in what you say ; and I doubt not, 
on a rush, you would pass the whole nation ; and, in a straight 
race of two miles, would be in, and get your breath again, afore 
a knave of them all was within hearing of the other village. 
But the gift of a white man lies more in his arms than in his 
legs. As for myself, I can brain a Huron as well as a better 
man ; but when it comes to a race, the knaves would prove too 
much for me.” 

Uncas, who had already approached the door, in readiness to 
lead the way, now recoiled ; and placed himself, once more, in 
the bottom of the lodge. But Hawk-eye, who was too much 
occupied with his own thoughts to note the movement, continued 
speaking more to himself than to his companion. 

“ After all,” he said, “ it is unreasonable to keep one man in 
bondage to the gifts of another. So, Uncas, you had better 
take the leap, while I will put on the skin again, and trust to 
cunning for want of speed.” 

The young Mohican made no reply, but quietly folded his 
arms, and leaned his body against one of the upright posts that 
supported the wall of the hut. 

“ Well,” said the scout, looking up at him, “ why do you 
tarry ? There will be time enough for me, as the knaves will 
give chase to you at first.” 

“ Unc^ will stay,” was the calm reply. 

“ For what ?” 

“ To fight with his father’s brother, and die with the friend 
of the Delaw'ares.” 

“ Ay, lad,'* returned Hawk-eye, squeezing the hand of Uncas 
between his own iron fingers ; “ ’twould have been more like a 
Mingo than a Mohican had you left me. But I thought I 
would make the offer, seeing that youth commonly loves life. 
Well, what can’t be done by main courage, in war, must be 
done by circumvention. Put on the skin ; I doubt not you can 
play the bear nearly as well as myself.” 

Whatever might have been the private opinion of Uncas of 
their respective abilities in this particular, his grave countenance 
15 * 


346 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


manifested no opinion of his own superiority. He silentlj and 
expeditiously encased himself in the covering of the beast, and 
then awaited such other movements as his more aged com- 
panion saw fit to dictate. 

“I^ow, friend,” said Hawk-eye, addressing David, “an ex- 
change of garments will be a great convenience to you, inas- 
much as you are but little accustomed to the make-shifts of the 
wilderness. Here, take my hunting shirt and cap, and give me 
your blanket and hat. You must trust me with the book and 
spectacles, as well as the tooter, too ; if we ever meet again, in 
better times, you shall have all back again, with many thanks 
into the bargain.” 

David parted with the several articles named with a readiness 
that would hav6 done great credit to his liberality, had he not 
certainly profited, in many particulars, by the exchange. Hawk- 
eye was not long in assuming his borrowed garments ; and 
when his restless eyes were hid behind the glasses, and his head 
was surmounted by the triangular beaver, as their statures were 
not dissimilar, he might readily have passed for the singer by 
star-light. As soon as these dispositions were made, the scout 
turned to David, and gave him his parting instructions. 

“ Are you much given to cowardice ?” he bluntly asked, 
by way of obtaining a suitable understanding of the whole case 
before he ventured a prescription. 

“ My pursuits are peaceful, and my temper, I humbly trust, is , 
gi'eatly given to mercy and love,” returned David, a little 
nettled at so direct an attack on his manhood ; “ but there are 
none who can say that I have ever forgotten my faith in the 
Lord, even in the greatest straits.” 

“Your chiefest danger will be at the moment when the 
savages find out that they have been deceived. If you are not 
then knocked in the head, your being a non-composser will 
protect you ; and you’ll then have good reason to expect to die 
in your bed. If you stay, it must be to sit down here in the 
shadow, and take the part of Uncas, until such times as the 
cunning of the Indians discover the cheat, when, as I have 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 347 

already said, your time of trial will come. So choose for 
yourself, — to make a rush or tarry here.” 

“ Even so,” said David, firmly ; “ I will abide in the place of 
the Delaware. Bravely and generously has he battled in my 
behalf ; and this, and more, will I dare in his service.” 

“ You have spoken as a man, and like one who, under wiser 
schooling, would have been brought to better things. Hold 
your head down, and draw in your legs ; their formation might 
tell the truth too early. Keep silent as long as may be ; and it 
would be wise, when you do speak, to break out suddenly in 
one of your shoutings, which will serve to remind the Indians 
that you ai*e not altogether as responsible as men should be. 
If, however, they take your scalp, as I trust and believe they 
will not, depend on it, Uncas and I will not forget the deed, but 
revenge it as becomes true warriors and trusty friends.” 

“ Hold!” said David, peiceiving that with this assurance they 
were about to leave him ; “ I am an unworthy and humble 
follower of one who taught not the damnable principle of 
revenge. Should I fall, therefore, seek no victims to my manes, 
but rather forgive my destroyers ; and if you remember them at 
all, let it be in prayers for the enlightening of their minds, and 
for their eternal welfare.” 

The scout hesitated, and appeared to muse. 

“ There is a principle in that,” he said, “ different from the 
law of the woods ; and yet it is fair and noble to reflect upon.” 
Then, heaving a heavy sigh, probably among the last ho ever 
drew in pining for a condition he had so long abandoned, he 
added — “ It is what I would wish to practise myself, as one 
without a cross of blood, though it is not always easy to deal 
with an Indian as you would with a fellow Christian. God 
bless you, friend ; I do believe your scent is not greatly wrong, 
when the matter is duly considered, and keeping eternity before 
the eyes, though much depends on the natural gifts, and the 
force of temptation.” 

So saying, the scout returned and shook David cordially by 


348 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


the hand ; after which act of friendship he immediately left the 
lodge, attended by the new representative of the beast. 

The instant Hawk-eye found himself under the observation of 
the Hurons, he drew up his tall form in the rigid manner ot 
David, threw out his arm in the act of keeping time, and 
commenced what he intended for an imitation of his psalmody. 
Happily for the success of this delicate adventure, he had to 
deal with ears but little practised in the concord of sweet sounds, 
or the miserable effort would infallibly have been detected. It 
was necessary to pass within a dangerous proximity of the dark 
group of the savages, and the voice of the scout grew louder as 
they drew nigher. When at the nearest poinc, the Huron wdio 
spoke the English thrust out an arm, and stopped the supposed 
singing master. 

“The Delaware dog!” he said, leaning forward, and peering 
through the dim light to catch the expression of the other’s 
features ; “ is he afraid ? will the Hurons hear his groans ?” 

A growl so exceedingly fierce and natural proceeded from the 
beast, that the young Indian released his hold and started aside, 
as if to assure himself that it was not a veritable bear, and no 
counterfeit, that was rolling before him. Hawk-eye, who feared 
his voice would betray him to his subtle enemies, gladly profited 
by the interruption, to break out anew in such a burst of 
musical expression as would, probably, in a more refined state 
of society have been termed “a grand crash.” Among his 
actual auditors, however, it merely gave him an additional claim 
to that respect which they never withhold from such as are 
believed to be the subjects of mental alienation. The little knot 
of Indians drew back in a body, and suffered, as they thought, 
the conjuror and his inspired assistant to proceed. 

It req :ired no common exercise of fortitude in Uncas and the 
scout, to continue the dignified and deliberate pace they had 
assumed in passing the lodges ; especially as they immediately 
perceived that curiosity had so far mastered fear, as to induce 
the watchers to approach the hut, in order to witness the effect 
of the incantations. The least injudicious or impatient move- 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


340 


ment on the part of David might betray them, and time was 
absolutely necessary to insure the safety of the scout. The 
loud noise the latter conceived it politic to continue, drew 
many curious gazers to the doors of the diffei-ent huts as they 
passed ; and once or twice a dark-looking warrior stepped 
across their path, led to the act by superstition or watchfulness. 
They were not, however, interrupted ; the darkness of the hour, 
and the boldness of the attempt, proving their principal friends. 

The adventurers had got clear of the village, and were now 
swiftly approaching the shelter of the woods, when a loud and 
long cry arose from the lodge where Uncas had-^been confined. 
The Mohican started on his feet, and shook his shaggy covering, 
as though the animal he counterfeited was about to make some 
desperate effort. 

“ Hold !” said the scout, grasping his friend hy the shoulder, 
“let them yell again ! ’Tvvas nothing but wonderment.” 

He had no occasion to delay, for at the next instant a burst 
of cries filled the outer air, and ran along the whole extent of 
the village. Uncas cast his skin, and stepped forth in his own 
beautiful proportions. Hawk-eye tapped him lightly on the 
shoulder, and glided ahead. 

“Now let the devils strike our scent !” said the scout, tearing 
two rifles, with all their attendant accoutrements, from beneath 
a bush, and flourishing “kill-deer” as he handed Uncas his 
weapon ; “ two, at least, will find it to their deaths.” 

Then throwing their pieces to a low trail, like sportsmen in 
readiness for their game, they dashed forward, and were soon 
buried in the sombre darkness of the forest. 


350 


rns LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

Ant. I shall remember : 

When Caesar says, Do this, it is performed. 

Julius CaesAR. 


The impatience of the savages who lingered about the prison 
of Uncas, as has been seen, had overcome their dread of the 
conjuror’s breath. They stole cautiously, and with beating 
hearts, to a crevice, through which the faint light of the fire was 
glimmering. For several minutes they mistook the form of 
David for that of their prisoner ; but the very accident which 
Hawk-eye had foreseen occurred. Tired of keeping the extre- 
mities of his long person so near together, the singer gradually 
suftered the lower limbs to extend themselves, until one of his 
misshapen feet actually came in contact with and shoved aside 
the embers of the fire. At first the Hurons believed the 
Delaware had been thus deformed by witchcraft. But when 
David, unconscious of being observed, turned his head, and 
exposed his simple, mild countenance, in place of the haughty 
lineaments of their prisoner, it would have exceeded the credu- 
lity of even a native to have doubted any longer. They rushed 
together into the lodge, and laying their hands, with but little 
ceremony, on their captive, immediately detected the imposition. 
Then arose the cry first heard by the fugitives. It was 
succeeded by the most frantic and angry demonstrations of 
vengeance. David, however firm in his determination to cover 
the retreat of his friends, was compelled to believe that his own 
final hour had come. Deprived of his book and his pipe, he 
was fain to trust to a memory that rarely failed him on such 
subjects ; and breaking forth in a loud and impassioned strain, 
he endeavored to smoothe his passage into the other world, by 
tinging the opening verse of a funeral anthem. The Indians 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


351 


were seasonably reminded of his infirmity, and rushing into the 
open air, they aroused the village in the manner described. 

A native warrior fights as he sleeps, without the protection 
of anything defensive. The sounds of the alarm were, there- 
fore, hardly uttered, before two hundred men w'ere afoot, and 
ready for the battle or the chase, as either might be required. 
The escape was soon known ; and the whole tribe crowded, in 
a body, around the council lodge, impatiently awaiting the 
instruction of their chiefs. In such a sudden demand on their 
wisdom, the presence of the cunning Magua could scarcely fail 
of being needed. His name was mentioned, and all looked 
round in wonder that he did not appear. Messengers were 
then despatched to his lodge, requiring his presence. 

In the meantime, some of the swiftest and most discreet of 
the young men were ordered to make the circuit of the clearing, 
under cover of the woods, in order to ascertain that their sus- 
pected neighbors, the Delawares, designed no mischief. Women 
and children ran to and fro ; and, in short, the whole encamp- 
ment exhibited another scene of wild and savage confusion. 
Gradually, however, these symptoms of disorder diminished ; 
and in a few minutes the oldest and most distinguished chiefs 
were assembled in the lodge, in grave consultation. 

The clamor of many voices soon announced that a party 
approached, who might be expected to communicate some 
intelligence that would explain the mystery of the novel 
surprise. The crowd without gave way, and several warriors 
entered the place, bringing with them the hapless conjuror, who 
had been left so long by the scout in duresse. 

Notwithstanding this man was held in very unequal estima- 
tion among the Hurons, some believing implicitly in his power, 
and others deeming him an impostor, he was now listened to 
by all with the deepest attention. When his brief story was 
ended, the father of the sick woman stepped forth, and, in a few 
pithy expressions, related, in his turn, what he knew. These two 
narratives gave a proper direction to the subsequent inquiries, 
which were now made with the characteristic cunning of savages. 


852 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Instead of rushing in a confused and disorderly throng to 
the cavern, ten of the wisest and firmest among the chiefs were 
selected to prosecute the investigation. As no time was to be 
lost, the instant the choice was made the individuals appointed 
roso in a body, and left the place without speaking. On 
reaching the entrance, the younger men in advance made way 
for their seniors ; and the whole proceeded along the low, dark 
gallery, with the firmness of warriors ready to devote themselves 
to the public good, though, at the same time, secretly doubting 
the nature of the power with which they were about to contend. 

The outer apartment of the cavern was silent and gloomy. 
The woman lay in her usual place and posture, though there 
were those present who affirmed they had seen her borne to 
the woods, by the supposed “medicine of the white men.” 
Such a direct and palpable contradiction of the tale related by 
the father, caused all eyes to be turned on him. Chafed by 
the silent imputation, and inwardly troubled by so unaccount- 
able a circumstance, the chief advanced to the side of the bed, 
and stooping, cast an incredulous look at the features, as if 
distrusting their reality. His daughter was dead. 

The unerring feeling of nature for a moment prevailed, and 
the old warrior hid his eyes in sorrow. Then recovering his 
self-possession, he faced his companions, and pointing towards 
the corpse, he said, in the language of his people — 

“ The wife of my young man has left us ! the Great Spirit 
is angry with his children.” 

The mournful intelligence was received in solemn silence. 
After a short pause, one of the elder Indians was about to 
speak, when a dark-looking object was seen rolling out of an 
adjoining apartment, into the very centre of the room where 
they stood. Ignorant of the nature of the beings they had to 
deal with, the whole party drew back a little, and gazed in 
admiration, until the object fronted the light, and i-ising on 
end, exhibited the distorted, but still fierce and sullen, features 
of Magua. The discovery was succeeded by a general exclama- 
tion of amazement. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


353 


As soon, however, as the true situation of the chief was 
understood, several ready knives appeared, and his limbs and 
tongue were quickly released. The Huron arose, and shook 
himself like a lion quitting his lair. Not a word escaped him, 
though his hand played convulsively with the handle of his 
knife, while his lowering eye scanned the whole party, as if 
they sought an object suited to the first burst of his vengeance. 

It was happy for Uncas and the scout, and even David, that 
they were all beyond the reach of his arm at such a moment ; 
for, assuredly, no refinement in cruelty would then have 
deferred their deaths, in opposition to the promptings of the 
fierce temper that nearly choked him. Meeting everywhere 
faces that he knew as friends, the savage grated his teeth together 
like rasps of iron, and swallowed his passion for want of a vic- 
tim on whom to vent it. This exhibition of anger was noted by 
all present ; and, from an apprehension of exasperating a tem- 
per that was already chafed nearly to madness, several minutes 
were suffered to pass before another word was uttered. When, 
however, suitable time had elapsed, the oldest of the party spoke. 

“ My friend has found an enemy,” he said. “ Is he nigh, 
that the Hurons may take revenge ?” 

“ Let the Delaware die !” exclaimed Magua, in a voice of 
thunder. 

Another long and expressive silence was observed, and was 
broken, as before, with due precaution, by the same individual. 

“ The Mohican is swift of foot, and leaps far,” he said ; “ but 
my young men are on his trail.” 

“ Is he gone ?” demanded Magua in tones so deep and 
guttural, that they seemed to proceed from his inmost chest. 

“ An evil spirit has been among us, and the Delaware has 
blinded our eyes.” 

“ An evil spirit !” repeated the other, mockingly ; “ ’tis the 
spirit that has taken the lives of so many Hurons. The spirit 
that slew my young men at ‘ the tumbling river that took 
their scalps at the ‘healing spring;’ and who has, now, bound 
the arms of Le Renard subtil 1” 


854 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ Of whom does my friend speak ?” 

“ Of the dog who carries the heart and cunning of a Huron 
under a pale skin — La longue Carabine.” 

The pronunciation of so terrible a name produced the usual 
effect among his auditors. But when time was given for 
reflection, and the warriors remembered that their formidable 
and daring enemy had even been in the bosom of their encamp- 
ment, working injury, fearful rage took the place of wonder, and 
all those fierce passions with which the bosom of Magua had 
just been struggling were suddenly transferred to his companions. 
Some among them gnashed their teeth in anger, others vented 
their feelings in yells, and some, again, beat the air as franti- 
cally as if the object of their resentment were suffering under 
their blows.' But this sudden outbreaking of temper as quickly 
subsided in the still and sullen restraint they most affected, in 
their moments of inaction. 

Magua, who had, in his turn, found leisure for reflection, now 
changed his manner, and assumed the air of one who knew how 
to think and act with a dignity worthy of so grave a subject. 

“ Let us go to my people,” he said ; “ they wait for us.” 

His companions consented in silence, and the whole of the 
savage party left the cavern and returned to the council lodge. 
When they were seated, all eyes turned on Magua, who under- 
stood, from such an indication, that, by common consent, they 
had devolved the duty of relating what had passed on him. 
He arose, and told his tale, without duplicity or reservation. 
The whole deception practised by both Duncan and Hawk-eye 
was, of course, laid naked ; and no room was found, even for 
the most superstitious of the tribe, any longer to affix a doubt on 
the character of the occurrences. It was but too apparent that 
they • had been insultingly, shamefully, disgracefully, deceived. 
When he had ended, and resumed his seat, the collected tribe — 
for his auditors, in substance, included all the fighting men of the 
party — sat regarding each other like men astonished equally at 
the audacity and the success of their enemies. The next consi- 
deration, however, was the means and opportunities for revenge. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


355 


Additional pursuers were sent on the trail of the fugitives ; 
and then the chiefs applied themselves, in earnest, to the busi- 
ness of consultation. Many different expedients were proposed 
by the elder warriors, in succession, to all of which Magua was 
a silent and respectful listener. That subtle savage had reco- 
vered his artifice and self-command, and now proceeded towards 
his object with his customary caution and skill. It was only 
when each one disposed to speak had uttered his sentiments, 
that he prepared to advance his own opinions. They were 
given with additional weight from the circumstance, that some 
of the runners had already returned, and reported, that their 
enemies had been traced so far as to leave no doubt of their 
having sought safety in the neighboring camp of their suspected 
allies, the Delawares. With the advantage of possessing this 
important intelligence, the chief warily laid his plans before his 
fellows, and, as might have been anticipated from his eloquence 
and cunning, they were adopted without a dissenting voice. 
They were, briefly, as follows, both in opinions and in motives. 

It has been already stated that, in obedience to a policy rarely 
departed from, the sisters were separated so soon as they 
reached the Huron village. Magua had early discovered, that 
in retaining the person of Alice, he possessed the most effectual 
check on Cora. When they parted, therefore, he kept the 
former within reach of his hand, consigning the one he most 
valued to the keeping of their allies. The arrangement was 
understood to be merely temporary, and was made as much 
with a view to flatter his neighbors as in obedience to the inva- 
riable rule of Indian policy. 

While goaded incessantly by those revengeful impulses that 
in a savage seldom slumber, the chief was still attentive to his 
more permanent personal interests. The follies and disloyalty 
committed in his youth were to be expiated by a long and 
painful penance ere he could be restored to the full enjoyment 
of the confidence of his ancient people ; and without confidence 
there could be no authority in an Indian tribe. In this delicate 
and arduous situation, the crafty native had neglected no moans 


356 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


of increasing his influence ; and one of the happiest of his expe- 
dients had been, the success with which he had cultivated the 
favor of their powerful and dangerous neighbors. The result 
of his experiment had answered all the expectations of his poli- 
cy ; for the Hurons were in no degree exempt from that govern- 
ing principle of nature, which induces man to value his gifts 
precisely in the degree that they are appreciated by others. 

But, while he was making this ostensible sacrifice to general 
considerations, Magua never lost sight of his individual motives. 
The latter had been frustrated by the unlooked-for events 
which had placed all his prisoners beyond his control ; and he 
now found himself reduced to the necessity of suing for favors 
to those whom it had so lately been his policy to oblige. 

Several of the chiefs had proposed deep and treacherous 
schemes to surprise the Delawares, and, by gaining possession 
of their camp, to recover their prisoners by the same blow ; for 
all agreed that their honor, their interests, and the peace and 
happiness of their dead countrymen, imperiously required them 
speedily to immolate some victims to their revenge. But plans 
so dangerous to attempt, and of such doubtful issue, Magua 
found little difficulty in defeating. He exposed their risk and 
fallacy with his usual skill ; and it was only after he had re- 
moved every impediment, in the shape of opposing advice, that 
he ventured to propose his own projects. 

He commenced by flattering the self-love of his auditors ; a 
never-failing method of commanding attention. When he had 
enumerated the many different occasions on which the Hurons 
had exhibited their courage and prowess, in the punishment of 
insults, he digressed in a high encomium on the virtue of wis- 
dom. He painted the quality, as forming the great point of 
difference between the beaver and other brutes ; between brutes 
and men ; and, finally, between the Hurons, in particular, and 
the rest of the human nice. After he had sufficiently extolled 
the property of discretion, he undertook to exhibit in what 
manner its use was applicable to the present situation of their 
tribe. On the one band, he said, was their great pale father, 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


367 


the governor of the Canadas, who had looked upon his children 
with a hard eye, since their tomahawks had been so red ; on 
the other, a people as numerous as themselves, who spoke a 
different language, possessed different interests, and loved them 
not, and who would be glad of any pretence to bring them in 
disgrace with the great white chief. Then he spoke of their 
necessities ; of the gifts they had a right to expect for their past 
services ; of their distance from their proper hunting grounds 
and native villages ; and of the necessity of consulting prudence 
more, and inclination less, in so critical circumstances. When 
he perceived that, while the old men applauded his moderation, 
many of the fiercest and most distinguished of the warriors lis- 
tened to these politic plans with lowering looks, he cunningly 
led them back to the subject which they most loved. He spoke 
openly of the fruits of their wisdom, which he boldly pro- 
nounced would be a complete and final triumph over their 
enemies. He even darkly hinted that their success might be 
extended, with proper caution, in such a manner as to include the 
destruction of all whom they had reason to hate. In short, he 
so blended the warlike with the artful, the obvious with the 
obscure, as to flatter the propensities of both parties, and to leave 
to each subject of hope, while neither could say it clearly com- 
prehended his intentions. 

The orator, or the politician, who can produce such a state 
of things, is commonly popular with his contemporaries, how- 
ever he may be treated by posterity. All perceived that more 
was meant than was uttered, and each one believed that the 
hidden meaning was precisely such as his own faculties enabled 
' him to understand, or his own wishes led him to anticipate. 

In this happy state of things, it is not surprising that the 
management of Magua prevailed. The tribe consented to act 
with deliberation, and with one voice they committed the 
direction of the whole affair to the government of the chief who 
had suggested such wise and intelligible expedients. 

Magua had now attained one great object of all his cunning 
and enterprise. The ground he had lost in the favor of his 


858 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


people was completely regained, and he found himself even 
placed at the head of affairs. He was, in truth, their ruler ; 
and, so long as he could maintain his popularity, no monarch 
could be more despotic, especially while the tribe continued in a 
hostile country. Throwing off, therefore, the appearance of 
consultation, he assumed the grave air of authority necessary to 
support the dignity of his office. 

Eunners were despatched for intelligence in different 
directions ; spies were ordered to approach and feel the 
encampment of the Delawares ; the warriors were dismissed to 
their lodges, with an intimation that their services would soon 
be needed ; and the women and children were ordered to retire, 
with a warning that it was their province to be silent. When 
these several arrangements were made, Magua passed through 
the village, stopping here and there to pay a visit where ho 
thought his presence might be flattering to I he individual. He 
confirmed his friends in their confidence, fixed the wavering, 
and gratified all. Then he sought his own lodge. The wife 
the Huron chief had abandoned, when he was chased from 
among his people, was dead. Children he had none ; and he 
now occupied a hut, without companion of any sort. It was, in 
fact, the dilapidated and solitary structure in which David had 
been discovered, and whom he had tolerated in his presence, on 
those few occasions when they met, with the contemptuous 
indifference of a haughty superiority. 

Hither, then, Magua retired, when his labors of policy were 
ended. While others slept, however, he neither knew nor 
sought repose. Had there been one sufficiently curious to have 
watched the movements of the newly elected chief, he would 
have seen him seated in a corner of his lodge, musing on the 
'^l^subject of his future plans, from the hour of his retirement to 
, the time he had appointed for the warriors to assemble again. 
Occasionally the air breathed through the crevices of the hut, 
and the low flame that fluttered about the embers of the fire 
threw their wavering light on the person of the sullen recluse. 
At such moments it would not have been difficult to have 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


359 


fancied the dusky savage the Prince of Darkness, brooding on 
his own fancied wrongs, and plotting evil. 

Long before the day dawned, however, warrior after warrior 
entered the solitary hut of Magua, until they had collected to 
the number of twenty. Each bore his rifle, and all the other 
accoutrements of war, though the paint was uniformly peaceful. 
The entrance of these fierce-looking beings was unnoticed ; some 
seating themselves in the shadows of the jdace, and others 
standing like motionless statues, until the whole of the designated 
band was collected. 

Then Magua arose and gave the signal to proceed, marching 
himself in advance. They followed their leader singly, and in 
that well-known order which has obtained the distinguishing: 
appellation of “ Indian file.” Unlike other men engaged in the 
spirit-stirring business of war, they stole from their camp 
unostentatiously and unobserved, resembling a band of gliding 
spectres, more than warriors seeking the bubble reputation by 
deeds of desperate daring. 

Instead of taking the path which led directly towards the 
camp of the Delawares, Magua led his party for some distance 
down the windings of the stream, and along the little artificial 
lake of the beavers. The day began to dawn as they entered 
the clearing which had been formed by those sagacious and 
industrious animals. Though Magua, who had resumed his 
ancient garb, bore the outline of a fox on the dressed skin 
which formed his robe, there was one chief of his party who 
carried the beaver as his peculiar symbol, or “ totem.” There 
would have been a species of profanity in the omission, had 
this man passed so powerful a community of his fancied kindred, 
without bestowing some evidence of his regard. Accordingly, 
he paused, and spoke in words as kind and friendly as if he ^ 
were addressing more intelligent beings. He called the animals 
his cousins, and reminded them that his protecting influence 
was the reason they remained unharmed, while so many 
avaricious traders were prompting the Indians to take their 
lives. He promised a continuance of his favoi-s, and admonished 


860 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


them to be grateful. After which, he spoke of the expedition 
in which he was himself engaged, and intimated, though with 
sufficient delicacy and circumlocution, the expediency of 
bestowing on their relative a portion of that wisdom for which 
they were so renowned.'^ 

During the utterance of this extraordinary address, the 
companions of the speaker were as grave and as attentive to his 
language as though they wei’e all equally injpressed with its 
propriety. Once or twice black objects were seen rising to the 
surface of the w^ater, and the Huron expressed jDleasure, con- 
ceiving that his words were not bestowed in vain. Just as he 
had ended his address, the head of a large beaver was thrust 
from the door of a lodge, whose earthen walls had been much 
injured, and which the party had believed, from its situation, to 
be uninhabited. Such an extraordinary sign of confidence was 
received by the orator as a highly favorable omen ; and though 
the animal retreated a little precipitately, he was lavish of his 
thanks and commendations. 

When Magua thought sufficient time had been lost in 
gratifying the family aftection of the warrior, he again made the 
signal to proceed. As the Indians moved away in a body, and 
with a step that would have been inaudible to the ears of any 
common man, the same venerable-looking beaver once more 
ventured his head from its cover. Had any of the Hurons 
turned to look behind them, they would have seen the animal 
watching their movements with an interest and sagacity that 
might easily have been mistaken for reason. Indeed, so very 
distinct and intelligible were the devices of the quadruped, that 
even the most experienced observer would have been at a loss 
to account for its actions, until the moment when the party 
entered the forest, when the whole would have been explained, 
by seeing the entire animal issue from the lodge, uncasing, by 
tlie act, the grave features of Chingachgook from his mask of fur. 

* These harangues of the beasts are frequent among the Indians. They often 
address their victims in this way, reproaching them for cowardice, or commending 
their resolution, as they may happen to exhibit fortitude, or the reverse, in 
suffering. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


361 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Brief, I pray you ; for you see, ’tis a busy time with me. 

Much Ado About Nothing. 

The tribe, or rather half tribe, of Delawares, which has been so 
often mentioned, and whose present place of encampment was 
so nigh the temporary village of the Hurons, could assemble 
about an equal number of warriors with the latter people. Like 
their neighbors, they had followed Montcalm into the territo- 
ries of the English crown, and were making heavy and serious 
inroads on the hunting grounds of the Mohawks ; though they 
had seen fit, with the mysterious reserve so common among the 
natives, to withhold their assistance at the moment when it was 
most required. The French had accounted for this unexpected 
defection on the part of their ally in various ways. It was the 
prevalent opinion, however, that they had been influenced by 
veneration for the ancient treaty, that had once made them 
dependent on the Six Nations for military protection, and now 
rendered them reluctant to encounter their former masters. As 
for the tribe itself, it had been content to announce to Montcalm, 
through his emissaries, with Indian brevity, that their hatchets 
were dull, and time was necessary to sharpen them. The 
politic Captain of the Canadas had deemed it wiser to submit 
to entertain a passive friend, than by any acts Of ill-judged 
severity to convei't him into an open enemy. 

On that morning when Magua led his silent party from the 
settlement of the beavers into the forest, in the manner described, 
the sun rose upon the Delaware encampment, as if it had sud- 
denly burst upon a busy people, actively employed in all the 
customary avocations of high noon. The women ran from 
lodge to lodge, some engaged in preparing their morningV 

16 


302 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


meal, a few earnestly bent on seeking the comforts necessaiy to 
their habits, but more pausing to exchange hasty and whispered 
sentences with their friends. The warriors were lounging in 
gi'oups, musing more than they conversed ; and when a few 
words were uttered, speaking like men who deeply weighed 
their opinions. The instruments of the chase were to be seen 
in abundance among the lodges; but none departed. Here 
and there a warrior was examining his arms, with an attention 
that is rarely bestowed on the implements, when no other 
enemy than the beasts of the forest is expected to be encoun- 
tered. And, occasionally, the eyes of a whole group were 
turned simultaneously towards a large and silent lodge in the 
centre of the village, as if it contained the subject of their com- 
mon thoughts. 

During the existence of this scene, a man suddenly appeared 
at the furthest extremity of a platform of rock which formed the 
level of the village. He was without arms, ^ and his paint 
tended rather to soften than increase the natural sternness of 
his austere countenance. When in full view of the Delawares 
he stopped, and made a gesture of amity, by throwing his arm 
upward towards heaven, and then letting it fall impressively on 
his breast. The inhabitants of the village answered his salute 
by a low murmur of welcome, and encouraged him to advance 
by similar indications of friendship. Fortified by these assur- 
ances, the dark figure left the brow of the natural rocky terrace, 
where it had stood a moment, drawn in a strong outline against 
the blushing morning sky, and moved with dignity into the very 
centre of the huts. As he approached, notliing was audible but 
the rattling pf the light silver ornaments that loaded his arms 
and neck, and the tinkling of the little bells that fringed his 
deer-skin moccasins. He made, as he advanced, many courteous 
signs of greeting to the men he passed, neglecting to notice the 
women, however, like one who deemed their favor, in the 
present enterprise, of no importance. AVhen he had reached 
the group in which it was evident, by the haughtiness of their 
common mien, that the principal chiefs were collected, the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


363 


stranger paused, and then the Delawares saw that the active 
and erect form that stood before them was that of the well- 
known Huron chief, Le Renard subtil. 

His reception was grave, silent, and wary. The warriors in 
front stepped aside, opening the way to their most approved 
orator by the action ; one who spoke all those languages that 
were cultivated among the northern aborigines. 

“ The wise Huron is welcome,” said the Delaware, in the 
language of the Maquas ; “ he is come to eat his ‘ succa-tash,’^ 
with his brothers of the lakes.” 

“ He is come,” repeated Magua, bending his head with the 
dignity of an eastern prince. 

The chief extended his arm, and taking the other by the 
wrist, they once more exchanged friendly salutations. Then the 
Delaware invited his guest to enter his own lodge, and share 
his morning meal. The invitation was accepted ; and the two 
warriors, attended by three or four of the old men, walked 
calmly away, leaving the rest of the tribe devoured by a desire 
to understand the reasons of so unusual a visit, and yet not 
betraying the least impatience by sign or word. 

During the short and frugal repast that followed, the conver- 
sation was extremely circumspect, and related entirely to the 
events of the hunt, in which Magua had so lately been engaged. 
It would have been impossible for the most finished breeding to 
wear more of the appearance of considering the visit as a thing 
of coitrse, than did his hosts, notwithstanding every individual 
present was perfectly aware that it must be connected with 
some secret object, and that probably of importance to them- 
selves. When the appetites of the whole were appeased, the 
squaws removed the trenchers and gourds, and the two parties 
began to prepare themselves for a subtle trial of their wits. 

“ Is the face of my great Canada father turned again towards 
his Huron children ?” demanded the orator of the Delawares. 


* A dish composed of cracked corn and beans. It is much used also by tlie 
whites. By corn is meant maize. 


3C4 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ When was it ever otherwise?” returned Magua. “ He 
calls ray people ‘ most beloved.’ ” 

The Delaware gravely bowed his acquiescence to what he 
<knew to be false, and continued — 

“ The tomahawks of your young men have been very 
red !” 

“ It is so ; but they are now bright and dull ; for the Yengeese 
are dead, and the Delawares are our neighbors.” 

The other acknowledged the pacific compliment by a gesture 
of the hand, and remained silent. Then Magua, as if recalled 
to such a recollection, by the allusion to the massacre, de- 
manded — 

“ Does my prisoner give trouble to my brothers ?” 

“ She is welcome.” 

“ The path between the Hurons and the Delawares is short, 
and it is open ; let her be sent to my squaws, if she gives 
trouble to my brother.” 

“ She is welcome,” returned the chief of the latter nation, 
still more emphatically. 

The baffled Magua continued silent several minutes, apparently 
indifferent, however, to the repulse he had received in this his 
opening effort to regain possession of Cora. 

“ Do my young men leave the Delawares room on the 
mountains for their hunts ?” he at length continued. 

“ The Lenape are rulers of their own hills,” returned the 
other, a little haughtily. 

“It is well. Justice is the master of a red-skin! Why 
should they brighten their tomahawks, and sharpen their 
knives against each other? Are not the pale-faces thicker than 
the swallows in the season of flowers ?” 

“ Good !” exclaimed two or three of his auditors at the same 
time. 

Magua waited a little, to permit his •words to soften the 
feelings of the Delawares, before he added — 

“ Have there not been strange moccasins in the woods ? 
Have not my brothers scented the feet of white men ?” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 365 

“ Let my Canada father come,” returned the other evasively ; 
“ his children are ready to see him.” 

“ When the great chief comes, it is to smoke with the 
Indians in tlieir wigwams. The Ilurons say, too, he is 
welcome. But the Yengeese have long arms, and legs that 
never tire ! My young men dreamed they had seen the trail 
of the Yengeese nigh the village of the Delawares !” 

“ They will not find the Lenape asleep.” 

“ It is well. The warrior whose eye is open can see his 
enemy,” said Magua, once more shifting his ground, when he 
found himself unable to penetrate the caution of his companion. 
“ I have brought gifts to my brother. His nation would not 
go on the war-path, because they did not think it well ; but 
their friends have remembered where they lived.” 

When he had thus announced his liberal intention, the crafty 
chief arose, and gravely spread his presents before the dazzled 
eyes of his hosts. They consisted principally of trinkets of 
little value, plundered from the slaughtered females of William 
Henry. In the division of the baubles the cunning Huron 
discovered no less art than in their selection. While he 
bestowed those of greater value on the two most distinguished 
warriors, one of whom was his host, he seasoned his offerings to 
their inferiors with such well-timed and apposite compliments, as 
left them no grounds of complaint. In short, the whole 
cer^eny contained such a happy blending of the profitable 
with the flattering, that it was not difficult for the donor 
immediately to read the effect of a generosity so aptly mingled 
with praise, in the eyes of those he addressed. 

This well-judged and politic stroke on the part of Magua was 
not without instantaneous results. The Delaw'ares lost their 
gravity in a much more cordial expression ; and the host, in 
particular, after contemplating his own liberal share of- the 
spoil for some moments wdth peculiar gratification, repeated with 
strong emphasis, the words — 

“ My brother is a wise chief. He is welcome.” 

“ The Hiirons love their friends the Delawares,” returned 




366 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

Magua. “ Why should they not ? they are colored by the 
same sun, and their just men will hunt in the same grounds 
after death. The red-skins should be friends, and look with 
open eyes on the white men. Has not my brother scented 
spies in the woods ?” 

The Delaware whose name in English signified “ Hard heart,” 
an appellation that the French had translated into “ Le 
coeur-dur,” forgot that obduracy of purpose, which had probably 
obtained him so significant a title. His countenance grew very 
sensibly less stern, and he now deigned to answer more 
directly. 

“ There have been strange moccasins about my camp. They 
have been tracked into my lodges.” 

Did my brother beat out the dogs ?” asked Magua, without 
adverting in any manner to the former equivocation of the 
chief. 

“ It would not do. The stranger is always welcome to the 
children of the Lenape.” 

“ The stranger, but not the spy.” 

“ Would the Yengeese send their women as spies ? Did not 
the Huron chief say he took women in the battle ?” 

“ He told no lie. The Yengeese have sent out their scouts. 
They have been in my wigwams, but they found there no one 
to say welcome. Then they fled to the Delawares — for, say 
they, the Delawares are our friends ; their minds are turned 
from their Canada father !” 

This insinuation was a home thrust, and one that in a more 
advanced state of society, would have entitled Magua to the 
reputation of a skilful diplomatist. The recent defection of the 
tribe had, as they well knew themselves, subjected the 
Delawares to much reproach among their French allies ; and 
they were now made to feel that their future actions were to be 
regarded with jealousy and distrust. There was no deep 
insight into causes and effects necessary to foresee that such a 
situation of things was likely to prove highly prejudicial to 
tlieir future movements. Their distant villages, their hunting 


THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 


367 


grounds, and hundreds of their women and childien, together 
with a material part of their physical force, were actually within 
the limits of the French territory. Accordingly, this alarming 
annunciation was received, as Magua intended, with manifest 
disapprobation, if not with alarm. 

“ Let my father look in my face,” said Le-coeur-dur ; “ he 
will see no change. It is true, my young men did not go out 
on the war-path ; they had dreams for not doing so. But they 
love and venerate the great white chief.” 

“ Will he think so when he hears that his greatest enemy 
is fed in the camp of his children ? When he is told a bloody 
Yengee smokes at your fire ? That the pale-face who has slain 
so many of his friends goes in and out among the Delawares ? 
Go — my great Canada father is not a fool ! 

“ Where is the Yengee that the Delawares fear ?” returned 
the other ; “ who has slain my young men ? who is the mortal 
enemy of my Great Father !” 

“ La longue Carabine.” 

The Delaware warriors started at the Avell known name, be- 
traying, by their amazement, that they now learnt, for the first 
time, one so famous among the Indian allies of France was 
within their power. 

“ What does my brother mean ?” demanded Le-coeur-dur, 
in a tgne that, by its wonder, far exceeded the usual apathy of 
his race. 

“ A Huron never lies !” returned Magua coldly, leaning his 
head against the side of the lodge, and drawing his slight robe 
across his tawny breast. “ Let the Delawares count their pri- 
soners ; they will find one whose skin is neither red nor pale.” 

A long and musing pause succeeded. The chief consulted 
apart with his companions, and messengers were despatched to 
collect certain others of the most distinguished men of the 
tribe. 

As warrior after warrior dropped in, they were each made 
acquainted, in turn, with the important intelligence that Magua 
had just communicated. The air of surprise, and the usual low, 


I 


S68 THIS LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

"deep, guttural exclamation, were common to them all. The 
news spread from mouth to mouth, until the whole encamp- 
ment became powerfully agitated. The w’omen suspended 
• their labors, to catch such^syllables as unguardedly fell from 
the lips of the consulting warriors. The boys deserted their 
sports, and walking fearlessly among their fathers, looked up in 
curious admiration, as they heard the brief exclamations of 
wonder they so freely expressed at the temerity of their hated 
foe. In short, every occupation was abandoned for the time, 
and all other pursuits seemed discarded, in order that the tribe 
might freely indulge, afteWheir own peculiar manner, in an 
open expression of feeling. 

When the excitement had a little abated, the old men dis- 
posed themselves seriously to consider that which it became the 
honor and safety of their tribe to perform, under circumstances 
of so much delicacy and embarrassment. During all these 
movements, and in the midst of the general commotion, Magua 
had not only maintained his seat, but the very attitude he had 
originally taken, against the side of the lodge, where he con- 
tinued as immovable, and, apparently, as unconcerned, as if he 
had no interest in the result. Not a single indication of the 
future intentions of his hosts, however, escaped his vigilant eyes. 
With his consummate knowledge of the nature of the people 
with whom he had to deal, he anticipated every measure on 
which they decided ; and it might almost be said, that, in 
many instances, he knew their intentions, even before they 
became known to themselves. 

The council of the Delawares was short. When it was ended, 
a general bustle announced that it was to be immediately suc- 
ceeded by a solemn and formal assemblage of the nation. As 
such meetings were rare, and only called on occasions of the last 
importance, the subtle Huron, who still sat apart, a wily and 
dark observer of the proceedings, now knew that all his projects 
must be brought to their final issue. He, therefore, left the lodge, 
and walked silently forth to the place, in front ^f the encamp- 
ment, whither the warriors were already beginning to cfllect. 


THE LAST OF TUB MOHICANS. 


369 


It might have been half an hour before each individual, in- 
cluding even the women and children, was in his place. The 
delay had been created by the grave preparations that were 
deemed necessary to so solemn and unusual a conference. But 
when the sun was seen climbing above the tops of that moun- 
tain, against whose bosom the Delawares had constructed their 
encampment, most were seated ; and as his bright rays darted 
from behind the outline of trees that fringed the eminence, they 
fell upon as grave, as attentive, and as deeply interested a mul* 
titude, as was probably ever befor§ lighted by his morning 
beams. Its number somewhat exceeded a thousand souls. 

In a collection of so serious savages, there is never to be 
found any impatient aspirant after premature distinction, stand- 
ing ready to move his auditors to some hasty, and, perhaps, 
injudicious discussion, in order that his own reputation may be 
the gainer. An act of so much precipitancy and presumption 
would seal the downfall of precocious intellect for ever. It 
rested solely with the oldest and most experienced of the men 
to lay the subject of the conference before the people. Until 
such a one chose to make some movement, no deeds in arms, 
no natural gifts, nor any renown as an orator, would have jus- 
tified the slightest interruption. On the present occasion, the 
aged warrior whose privilege it was to. speak, was silent, seem- 
ingly Qppressed with the magnitude of his subject. The delay 
had already continued long beyond the usual deliberative pause 
that always precedes a conference ; but no sign of impatience 
or surprise escaped even the youngest boy. Occasionally, an 
eye was raised from the earth, where the looks of most were 
riveted, and strayed towards a particular lodge, that was, how- 
ever, in no manner distinguished from those around it, except 
in the peculiar care that had been taken to protect it against 
the assaults of the weather. 

At length, one of those low murmurs that are so apt to dis- 
turb a multitude, was heard, and the whole nation arose to their 
feet by a common impulse. At that instant the door of th^ 
lodge in question opened, and three men issuing from it, slowly 
. 16 * * 


3*iO THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

approached the place of consultation. They were all aged, even 
beyond that period to which the oldest present had reached ; 
but one in the centre, who leaned on his companions for sup- 
port, had numbered an amount of years to which the human 
race is seldom permitted to attain. His frame, which had once 
been tall and erect, like the cedar, was now bending under the 
pressure of more than a century. The elastic, light step of an 
Indian was gone, and in its place he was compelled to toil his 
tardy way over the ground, inch by inch. His dark, wrinkled 
countenance was in singular and wild contrast with the long 
white locks which floated on his shoulders, in such thickness, 
as to announce that generations had probably passed away since 
they had last been shorn. 

The dress of this patriarch — for such, considering his vast age, 
in conjunction with his affinity and influence with his people, he 
might very properly be termed — w^as rich and imposing, though 
strictly after the simple fashions of the tribe. His robe was of 
the finest skins, which had been deprived of tlieir fur, in order 
to admit of a hieroglyphical representation of various deeds in 
arms, done in former ages. His bosom was loaded with medals, 
some in massive silver, and one or two even in gold, the gifts of 
various Christian potentates during the long period of his life. 
He also wore armlets, and cinctures above the ancles, of the 
latter precious metal. His head, on the whole of which the 
hair had been permitted to grow, the pursuits of war having so 
long been abandoned, was encircled by a sort of plated diadem, 
which, in its turn, bore lesser and more glittering ornanients, 
that sparkled amid the glossy hues of three drooping ostrich 
feathers, dyed a deep black, in touching contrast to the color 
of his snow-white locks. His tomahawk was nearly hid in sil- 
ver, and the handle of his knife shone like a horn of solid gold. 

So soon as the first hum of emotion and }>leasure, which the 
sudden appearance of this venerated individual created, had a 
little subsided, the name of “ Tamenund ” was whispered from 
mouth to mouth. Magua had often heard the fame of this 
wise and just Delaware ; a reputation that even proceeded so 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. S*I1 

far as to bGstow on him the rare gift of holding secret commu- 
nion with the Great Spirit, and which has since transmitted his 
name, with some slight alteration, to tlie white usurpers of his 
ancient territory, as the imaginary tutelar saint of a vast em- 
pire. The Huron chief, therefore, stepped eagerly out a little 
from the throng, to a spot whence he might catch a nearer 
glimpse of the features of the man, whose decision was likely to 
produce so deep an influence on his own fortunes. 

The eyes of the old man were closed, as though the organs 
were wearied with having so long witnessed the selfish work- 
ings of the human passions. The color of his skin differed from 
that of most around him, being richer and darker, the latter 
hue having been produced by certain delicate and mazy lines of 
complicated and yet beautiful figures, which had been traced 
over most of his person by the operation of tattooing. Notwith- 
standing the position of the Huron, he passed the observant and 
silent Magua without notice, and leaning on his two venerable 
supporters proceeded to the high place of the multitude, where 
he seated himself in the centre of his nation, with the dignity of 
a monarch and the air of a father. 

Nothing could surpass the reverence and affection with which 
this unexpected visit from one who belonged rather to another 
world than to this, was received by his people. After a suita- 
ble and decent pause, the principal chiefs arose ; and approach- 
ing the patriarch, they placed his hands reverently on their 
heads, seeming to entreat a blessing. The younger men were 
con_tent with touching his robe, or even drawing nigh his per- 
son, in order to breathe in the atmosphere of one so aged, so 
just, and so valiant. None but the most distinguished among 
the youthful warriors even presumed so far as to perform the 
latter ceremony ; the great mass of the multitude deeming it a 
sufficient happiness to look upon a form so deeply venerated, 
and so well beloved. When these acts of affection and respect 

* The Americans sometimes call their tutelar saint Tamenay, a corruption of the 
name of the renowned chief here introduced. There are many traditions which 
speak of the character and power of Tamenund. 


372 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


were performed, the chiefs drew back again to their several 
places, and silence reigned in the whole encampment. 

After a short delay, a few of the young men, to whom in- 
structions had been whispered by one of the aged attendants of 
Tamenund, arose, left the crowd, and entered the lodge which 
has already been noted as the object of so much attention 
throughout that morning. In a few minutes they re-appeared, 
escorting the individuals who had caused all these solemn 
preparations towards the seat of judgment. The crowd opened 
in a lane ; and when the party had re-entered, it closed in 
again, forming a large and dense belt of human bodies, arranged 
in an open circle. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, 


373 


CHAPTER XXIX. 

The assembly seated, rising o’er the rest, 

Achilles thus the king of men addressed. 

Pope’s Homer, 


Cora stood foremost among the prisoners, entwining her 
arms in those of Alice, in the tenderness of sisterly love. Not- 
withstanding the fearful and menacing array of savages on every 
side of her, no apprehension on her own account could prevent 
the noble-minded maiden from keeping her eyes fastened on the 
pale and anxious features of the trembling Alice. Close at their 
side stood Heyward, with an interest in both, that, at such a 
moment of intense uncertainty, scarcely knew a preponderance 
in favor of her whom he most loved. Hawk-eye had placed 
himself a little in the rear, with a deference to the superior rank 
of his companions, that no similarity in the state of their present 
fortunes could induce him to forget. Uncas was not there. 

Wjien perfect silence was again restored, and after the usual 
long, impressive pause, one of the two aged chiefs who sat at 
the side of the patriarch arose, and demanded aloud, in very 
intelligible English — 

“ Which of my prisoners is La longue Carabine ?” 

Neither Duncan nor the scout answered. The former, how- 
ever, glanced his eyes around the dark and silent assembly, and 
recoiled a pace, when they fell on the malignant visage of 
Magua. He saw, at once, that this wily savage had some 
secret agenc}’’ in their present arraignment before the nation, 
and determined to throw every possible impediment in the way 
of the execution of his sinister plans. He had witnessed one 
instance of the summary punishments of the Indians, and now 
dreaded that his companion was to be selected for a second. In 


874 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


this dilemma, with little or no time for reflection, he siiddeni^ 
determined to cloak his invaluable friend, at any or every 
hazard to himself. Before he had time, however, to speak, the 
question was repeated in a louder voice, and with a clearer 
utterance. 

“ Give us arms,” the young man haughtily replied, “ and 
place us in yonder woods. Our deeds shall speak for us !” 

“ This is the warrior whose name has filled our ears !” re- 
turned the chief, regarding Heyward with that sort of curious 
interest which seems inseparable from man, when first beholding 
one of his fellows to whom merit or accident, virtue or crime, 
has given notoriety. “ What has brought the white man into 
the camp of the Delawares ?” 

“ My necessities. I come for food, shelter, and friends.” 

“ It cannot be. The woods are full of game. The head of 
a warrior needs no other shelter than a sky without clouds ; and 
the Delawares are the enemies, and not the friends, of the 
Yengeese. Go — the mouth has spoken, while the heart said 
nothing.” 

Duncan, a little at a loss in what manner to proceed, remained 
silent ; but the scout, who had listened attentively to all that 
passed, now advanced steadily to the front. 

“ That I did not answer to the call for La longue Carabine, 
was not owing either to shame or fear,” he said ; “ for neither 
one nor the other is the gift of an honest man. But I do not 
admit the right of the Mingoes to bestow a name on one whose 
friends have been mindful of his gifts, in this particular ; espe- 
cially as their title is a lie, ‘ kill-deer ’ being a grooved barrel 
and no carabyne. I am the man, however, that got the name 
of Nathaniel from my kin ; the compliment of Hawk-eye from 
the Delawares, who live on their own river ; and whom the 
Iroquois have presumed to st}de the ‘ Long Rifle,’ without any 
warranty from him who is most concerned in the matter.” 

The eyes of all present, which had hitherto been gravely 
scanning the person of Duncan, were now turned, on the instant, 
V^wards the upright iron frame of this new pretender to the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


375 


distinguished appellation. It was in no degree remarkable that 
there should be found two who were willing to claim so great 
an honor, for impostors, though rare, were not unknown amongst 
the natives ; but it was altogether material to the just and 
severe intentions of the Delawares, that there should be no 
mistake in the matter. Some of their old men consulted 
together in private, and then, as it would seem, they determined 
to interrogate their visitor on the subject. 

“ My brother has said that a snake crept into my camp,” 
said the chief to Magua ; “ which is he ?” 

The Huron pointed to the scout. 

“ Will a wise Delaware believe the barking of a wolf?” 
exclaimed Duncan, still more confirmed in the evil intentions of 
his ancient enemy : “ a d )g never lies, but when was a wolf 
known to speak the truth ?” 

The eyes of Magua flashed fire ; but, suddenly recollecting 
the necessity of maintaining his presence of mind, he turned 
away in silent disdain, well assured that the sagacity of the 
Indians would not fail to extract the real merits of the point in 
controversy. He was not deceived; for, after another short 
consultation, the wary Delaware turned to him again, and 
expressed the determination of the chiefs, though in the most 
considerate language. 

“ My brother has been called a liar,” he said, “ and his 
friends are angry. They will show that he has spoken the 
truth. Give my prisoners guns, and let them prove which is 
the man.” 

Magua affected to consider the expedient, which he well knew 
proceeded from distrust of himself, as a compliment, and made 
a gesture of acquiescence, well content that his veracity should 
be supported by so skilful a marksman as the scout. The 
weapons were instantly placed in the hands of the friendly 
opponents, and they were bid to fire, over the heads of the 
seated multitude, at an earthen vessel, which lay, by accident, 
on a stump, some fifty yards from the place where they stood. 

Heyward smiled to himself at the idea of a competition with 


SVe THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

the scout, though he determined to persevere in the deception, 
until apprised of the real designs of Magua. Raising his rifle 
with the utmost care, and renewing his aim three several times, 
he fired. The bullet cut the wood within a few inches of the 
vessel ; and a general exclamation of satisfaction announced 
that the shot was considered a proof of great skill in the use of 
the weapon. Even Hawk-eye nodded his head, as if he would 
say, it was better than he had expected. But, instead of mani- 
festing an intention to contend with the successful marksman, 
he stood leaning on his rifle for more than a minute, like a man 
who was completely buried in thought. From this reverie he 
was, however, awakened by one of the young Indians who had 
furnished the arms, and who now touched his shoulder, saying, 
in exceedingly broken English — 

“ Can the pale-fiice beat it ?” 

“ Yes, Huron !” exclaimed the scout, raising the short rifle in 
his right hand, and shaking it at Magua, with as much appar- 
ent ease as if it were a reed ; “ yes, Huron, I could strike you 
now, and no power of earth ’ould prevent the deed ! The 
soaring hawk is not more certain of the dove than I am this mo- 
ment of you, did I choose to send a bullet to your heart ! Why 
should I not ? Why ! — because the gifts of my color forbid it, 
and I might draw down evil on tender and innocent heads ! 
If you know such a being as God, thank him, therefore, in your 
inward soul — for you have reason !” 

The flushed countenance, angry eye, and swelling figure of 
the scout, produced a sensation of secret awe in all that heard 
him. The Delawares held their breath in expectation ; but 
Magua himselfi even while he distrusted the forbearance of his 
enemy, remained immovable and calm, where he stood wedged 
in by the crowd, as one who grew to the spot. 

“ Beat it,” repeated the young Delaware at the elbow of the 
scout. 

“ Beat what ; fool ! — what !” — exclaimed Hawk-eye, still 
flourishing the weapon angrily above his head, though his eye 
no longer sought the person of Magua. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 377 

“If tlie white man is the warrior he pretends,” said the age.1 
chief, “ let him strike nigher to the mark.” 

The scout laughed aloud — a noise that produced the startling 
effect of an unnatural sound on Heyward — then dropping the 
piece, heavily, into his extended left hand, it was discharged, 
apparently by the shock, driving the fragments of the vessel 
into the air, and scattering them on every side. Almost at the 
same instant, the rattling sound of the rifle was heard, as he 
suftere'd it to fall, contemptuously, to the earth. 

The first impression of so strange a scene was engrossing ad- 
miration. Then a low, but increasing murmur, ran through 
the multitude, and finally sw’elled into sounds that denoted a 
lively opposition in the sentiments of the spectators. AVhile 
some openly testified their satisfaction at so unexampled dex- 
terity, by far the larger portion of the tribe were inclined to 
believe the success of the shot was the result of accident. Hey- 
ward was not slow to confirm an opinion that was so favorable 
to his own pretensions. 

“ It was chance !” he exclaimed ; “ none can shoot without 
an aim !” 

“ Chance !” echoed the excited woodsman, who was now 
stubbornly bent on maintaining his identity at every hazard, 
and on whom the secret hints of Heyward to acquiesce in the 
deception were entirely lost. “ Does yonder lying Huron, too, 
think it chance ? Give him another gun, and place us face to 
face, without cover or dodge, and let Providence, and our own 
eyes, decide the matter atween us ! I do not make the offer 
to you, major ; for our blood is of a color, and we serve the 
same master.” 

“ That the Huron is a liar, is very evident,” returned Hey- 
ward, coolly ; “ you have yourself heard him assert you to be 
La longue Carabine.” 

It were impossible to say what violent assertion the stubborn 
Hawk-eye would have next made, in his headlong wish to vin- 
dicate his identity, had not the age<i Delaware once more 
interposed. 


Sts THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 

“The hawk which comes from the clouds can return when 
he will,” he said ; “ give them the guns.” 

This time the scout seized the rifle with avidity ; nor had 
Magua, though he watched the movement of the marksman 
with jealous eyes, any further cause for apprehension. 

“ Now let it be proved, in the face of this tribe of Delawares, 
which is the better man,” cried the scout, tapping the butt of his 
piece with that finger which had pulled so many flital triggers. 
“You see the gourd hanging against yonder tree, major; if you 
are a marksman fit for the borders, let me see you break its 
shell !” 

Duncan noted the object, and prepared himself to renew the 
trial. The gourd was one of the usual little vessels used by the 
Indians, and it was suspended from a dead branch of a small 
pine, by a thong of deer-skin, at the full distance of a hundred 
yards. So strangely compounded is the feeling of self-love, that 
the young soldier, while he knew the utter worthlessness of the 
suffrages of his savage umpires, forgot the sudden motives of 
the contest in a wish to excel. It has been seen, already, that 
his skill was far from being contemptible, and he now resolved 
to put forth its nicest qualities. Had his life depended on the 
issue, the aim of Duncan could not have been more deliberate or 
guarded. He fired ; and three or four young Indians, who 
sprang forward at the report, announced with a shout, that the 
ball was in the tree, a very little on one side of the proper object. 
The warriors uttered a common ejaculation of pleasure, and then 
turned their eyes, inquiringly, on the movements of his rival. 

“ It may do for the Royal Americans !” said Hawk-eye, 
laughing once more in his own silent, heartfelt manner ; “ but 
had my gun often turned so much from the true line, many a 
marten, whose skin is now in a lady’s muflf, would still be in the 
woods ; ay, and many a bloody Mingo, who has departed to his 
final account, would be acting his deviltries at this very day, 
atween the provinces. I hope the squaw who owns the gourd 
has more of them in her wigwam, for this will never hold water 
again !” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


379 


The scout had shook his priming, and cocked his piece, while 
speaking; and, as he ended, he thre whack a foot, and slowly 
raised the muzzle from the earth : the motion was steady, 
uniform, and in one direction. When on a perfect level, it 
remained for a single moment, without tremor or variation, as 
though both man and rifle were carved in. stone. During that 
stationary instant, it poured forth its contents, in a bright, 
glancing sheet of flame. Again the young Indians bounded 
forward ; but their hurried search and disappointed looks 
announced that no traces of the bullet were to be seen. 

“ Go,” said the old chief to the scout, in a tone of strong 
disgust ; “ thou art a wolf in the skin of a dog. I will talk to 
the ‘Long Rifle’ of the Yengeese.” 

“ Ah ! had I that piece which furnished the name you use, 1 
would obligate myself to cut the thong, and drop the gourd 
without breaking it !” returned Hawk-eye, perfectly undisturbed 
by the other’s manner. “ Fools, if you would find the bullet of 
a sharpshooter of these woods, you must look in the object and 
not around it !” 

The Indian youths instantly comprehended his meaning — for 
this time he spoke in the Delaware tongue — and tearing tlie 
gourd from the tree, they held it on high with an exulting 
shou^. displaying a hole in its bottom, which had been cut by 
the bullet, after passing through the usual orifice in the centre 
of its upper side. At this unexpected exhibition, a loud and 
vehement expression of pleasure burst from the mouth of every 
warrior present. It decided the question, and effectually estab- 
lished Hawk-eye in the possession of his dangerous reputation. 
Those curious and admiring eyes which had been turned again 
on Heyward, were finally directed to the weather-beaten form 
of the scout, who immediately became the principal object 
of attention to the simple and unsophisticated beings by 
whom he was surrounded. AVhen the sudden and noisy com- 
motion had a little subsided, the aged chief resumed his exami- 
nation. 

“ Why did you wish to stop my ears ?” he said, addressing 


380 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Duncan ; “ are the Delawares fools, that they could not know 
the young panther from the cat ?” 

“They will yet find the Huron a singing-bird,” said Duncan, 
endeavoring to adopt the figurative language of the natives. 

“ It is good. We will know who can shut the ears of meiL 
Brother,” added the chief, turning his eyes on Magua, “ the 
Delawares listen.” 

Thus singled, and directly called on to declare his object, the 
Huron arose ; and advancing with great deliberation and dignity, 
into the very centre of the circle, where he stood confronted to 
the prisoners, he placed himself in an attitude to speak. Before 
opening his mouth, however, he bent his eyes slowly along the 
whole living boundary of earnest faces, as if to temper his 
expressions to the capacities of his audience. On Hawk-eye he 
cast a glance of respectful enmity ; on Duncan, a look of inex- 
tinguishable hatred ; the shrinking figure of iVlice he scarcely 
deigned to notice ; but when his glance met the firm, commjind- 
ing, and yet lovely form of Cora, his eye lingered a moment, 
with an expression that it might have been difficult to define. 
Then, filled with his own dark intentions, he spoke in the lan- 
guage of the Canadas, a tongue that he well knew was com- 
prehended by most of his auditors. 

“ The Spirit that made men colored them differently,” com- 
menced the subtle Huron. “Some are blacker than the 
sluggish bear. These he said should be slaves ; and he ordered 
them to work for ever, like the beaver. You may hear them 
groan, when the south wind blows, louder than the lowing 
buffaloes, along the shores of the great salt lake, where the big 
canoes come and go with them in droves. Some he made with 
faces paler than the ermine of the forests : and these lie ordered 
to be traders ; dogs to their women, and wolves to their slaves. 
He gave this people the nature of the pigeon ; wings that never 
tire : young, more plentiful than the leaves on the trees, and 
appetites to devour the earth. He gave them tongues like the 
false call of the wild-cat; hearts like rabbits ; the cunnino- of the 
hog (but none of the fox), and arms longer than the legs of the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


381 


moose. With his tongue, he stops the ears of the Indians ; his 
heart teaches him to pay warriors to fight his battles ; his cun- 
ning tells him how to get together the goods of the earth ; and 
his arms inclose the land from the shores of the salt-water to 
the islands of the great lake. His gluttony makes him sick. 
God gave him enough, and yet he wants all. Such are the pale- 
faces. 

“ Some the Great Spirit made with skins brighter and redder 
than yonder sun,” continued Magua, jiointing impressively 
upwards to the lurid luminary, which was struggling through 
the misty atmosphere of the horizon ; “ and these did he fashion 
to his own mind. He gave them this island as he had made it, 
covered with trees, and filled with game. The wind made 
their clearings ; the sun and rains ripened their fruits; and the 
snows came to tell them to be thankful. What need had they 
of roads to journey by ! They saw through the hills ! When 
the beavers worked, they lay in the shade, and looked on. The 
winds cooled them in summer ; in winter, skins kept them 
warm. If they fought among themselves, it -was to prove that 
they were men. They were brave ; they w^ere just ; they were 
happy.” 

Here the speaker paused, and again looked around him, to 
discover if his legend had touched the sympathies of his listen- 
ers. lie met everywhere with eyes riveted on his own, heads 
erect, and nostrils expanded, as if each individual present felt 
himself able and willing, singly, to redress the wrongs of his race. 

“ If the Great Spirit gave different tongues to his red 
children,” he continued, in a low, still melancholy voice, “it 
was that all animals might understand them. Some he placed 
among the snows, with their cousin the bear. Some he placed 
near the setting sun, on the road to the happy hunting grounds. 
Some on the lands around the great fresh waters ; but to his 
greatest, and most beloved, he gave the sands of the salt lake. 
Do my brothers know the name of this favored people ?” 

“ It was the Lenape !” exclaimed twenty eager voices, in a 
breath. 


382 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“It was the Lenni Lenape,” returned Magua, affecting to 
bend his head in reverence to their former greatness. “ It wa" 
the tribes of the Lenape ! The sun rose from water that was 
salt, and set in water that was sweet, and never hid himself from 
their eyes. But why should I, a Huron of the woods, tell a 
wise people their own traditions ? "Why remind them of their 
injuries ; their ancient greatness ; their deeds ; their glory ; 
their happiness : — their losses ; their defeats ; their misery ? Is 
there not one among them who has seen it all, and who knows 
it to be true ? I have done. My tongue is still, for my heart 
is of lead. I listen.”' 

As the voice of the speaker suddenly ceased, every face and 
all eyes turned, by a common movement, towards the venerable 
Tamenund. From the moment that he took his seat, until the 
present instant, the lips of the patriarch had not severed, and 
scarcely a sign of life had escaped him. He sat bent in feeble- 
ness, and apparently unconscious of the presence *he was in, 
during the whole of that opening scene, in which the skill of the 
scout had been so. clearly established. At the nicely graduated 
sounds of Magua’s voice, however, he betrayed some evidence of 
consciousness, and once or twice he even raised his head, as if to 
listen. But when the crafty Huron spoke of his nation by 
name, the eyelids of the old man raised themselves, and he 
looked out upon the multitude with that sort of dull unmeaning 
expression which might be supposed to belong to the counte- 
nance of a spectre. Then he made an effort to rise, and being 
upheld by his supporters, he gained his feet, in a posture com- 
manding by its dignity, while he tottered with weakness. 

“ Who calls upon the children of the Lenape !” he said, in a 
deep, guttural voice, that was rendered awfully audible by the 
breathless silence of the multitude : “ who speaks of things gone ! 
Does not the egg become a worm — the worm a ff}", and perish ? 
Why tell the Delawares of good that is past ? Better thank the 
Manitto for that which remains.” 

“ It is a Wyandot,” said Magua, stepping nigher to the rude 
platform on which the other stood ; “ a friend of Tamenund.” 


THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 383 

“ A friend 1” repeated the sage, on whose brow a dark frown 
settled, imparting a portion of that severity which had rendered 
his eye so terrible in middle age — “ Are the Mingoes rulers of 
the earth ? What brings a Huron here ?” 

“ J ustice. His prisoners are with his brothers, and he comes 
for his own.” 

Tamenund turned his head towards one of his supporters, and 
listened to the short explanation the man gave. Then facing 
the applicant, he regarded liim a moment with deep attention ; 
after which he said, in a low and reluctant voice : — 

“ J ustice is the law of the great Manitto. My children, give 
the stranger food. Then, Huron, take thine own and depart.” 

On the delivery of this solemn judgment, the patriarch seated 
himself, and closed his eyes again, as if better pleased with the 
images of his own ripened experience than with the visible 
objects of the w’orld. Against such a decree ' there was no 
Delaware sufficiently hardy to murmur, much less oppose 
himself. The words were barely uttered when four or five of 
the younger warriors stepping behind Heyward and the scout, 
passed thongs so dexterously and rapidly around their arms, as 
to hold them both in instant bondage. The former was too 
much engrossed with his precious and nearly insensible burden, 
to be aware of their intentions before they were executed ; and 
the latter, wffio considered even the hostile tribes of the 
Delawares a superior race of beings, submitted without resist- 
ance. Perhaps, however, the manner of the scout would 
not have been so passive, had he fully comprehended the 
language in which the preceding dialogue had been conducted. 

Magua cast a look of triumph around the whole assembly 
before he proceeded to the execution of his purpose. Perceiving 
that the men were unable to offer any resistance, he turned his 
looks on her he valued most. Cora met his gaze with an eye 
so calm and firm, that his resolution wavered. Then recollect- 
ing his former artifice, he raised Alice from the arms of the 
warrior against whom she leaned, and beckoning Heyward to 
follows he motioned for the encircling crowd to open. But 


384 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Cora, instead of obeying the impulse he had expected, rushed 
to the feet of the patriarch, and raising her voice, exclaimed 
aloud : — 

“Just and venerable Delaware, on thy wisdom and power 
we lean for mercy I Be deaf to yonder artful and remorseless 
monster, who poisons thy ears with falsehoods to feed his thirst 
for blood. Thou that hast lived long, and that hast seen the 
evil of the world, should know how to temper its calamities to 
the miserable.” 

The eyes of the old man opened heavily, and he once more 
looked upwards at the multitude. As the piercing tones of the 
supplicant swelled on his ears, they moved slowly in the 
direction of her person, and finally settled there in a steady 
gaze. Cora had cast herself to her knees; and, with hands 
clenched in each other and pressed upon her bosom, she 
remained like a beauteous and breathing model of her sex, 
looking up in his faded, but majestic countenance, with a species 
of holy reverence. Gradually the expression of Tamenund’s 
features changed, and losing their vacancy in admiration, they 
lighted with a portion of that intelligence which a century 
before had been wont to communicate his youthful fire to the 
extensive bands of the Delawares. Rising without assistance, 
and seemingly without an effort, he demanded, in a voice that 
startled its auditors by its firmness — 

“ What art thou ?” 

“ A woman. One of a hated race, if thou wilt — a Yengee. 
But one who has never harmed thee, and who cannot harm thy 
people, if she would ; who asks for succor.” 

“ Tell me, my children,” continued the patriarch, hoarsely, 
motioning to those around him, though his eyes still dwelt 
upon the kneeling form of Cora, “ where have the Delawares 
’camped ?” 

“ In the mountains of the Iroquois, beyond the clear springs 
of the Ilorican.” 

“ Many parching summers are come and gone,” continued the 
sage, “ since I drank of the waters of my own river. The children 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


385 


of Minquon are the justest wliite men ; but they were thii-sty, 
and they took it to themselves. Do they follow us so far ?” 

“ W e follow none ; we covet nothing,” answered Cora. 
“ Captives against our wills, have we been brought amongst 
you ; and we ask but permission to depart to our own in peace. 
Art thou not Tamenund — the father — the judge — I had almost 
.said, the prophet — of this- people ?” 

“ I am Tamenund of many days.” 

“ ’Tis now some seven years that one of thy people was at 
the mercy of a white chief on the borders of this province. He 
claimed to be of the blood of the good and just Tamenund. 
‘Go,’ said the white man, ‘for thy parent’s sake thou art free.’ 
Dost thou remember the name of that English warrior ?” 

“I remember, that when a laughing boy,” returned the 
patriarch, with the peculiar recollection of vast age, “ I stood 
upon the sands of the sea-shore, and saw a big canoe with 
wings whiter than the swan’s, and wider than many eagles, come 
from the rising sun. — ” 

“ Nay, nay ; I speak not of a time so very distant, but of 
favor shown to thy kindred by one of mine, within the memory 
of thy youngest warrior.” 

“Was it when the Yengeese and the Dutchman ne fought for 
the hunting grounds of the Delawares % Then Tamenund was 
a chief, and first laid aside the bow for the lightning of the pale- 
faces — ” “ Nor yet then,” interrupted Cora, “ by many ages ; 

I speak of a thing of yesterday. Surely, surely, you forget it 
not.” 

“ It was but yesterday,” rejoined the aged man with touching 
pathos, “ that the children of the Lenape were masters of the 
W'orld. The fishes of the salt lake, the birds, the beasts, and the 
Mengwee of the woods, owned them for Sagamores.” 

♦ William Penn was termed Minquon by the Delawares, and, as he never used 
violence or injustice in his dealings with them his reputation for probity passed 
into a proverb. The American is justly proud of the origin of his nation, which is 
perhaps unequalled in the history of the world ; but the Pennsylvanian and Jersey- 
man have more reason to value themselves in their ancestors than the natives of 
any other state, since no wrong was done the original owners of the soil. 

17 


386 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Cora bowed her head in disappointment, and, for a bitter 
moment, struggled with her chagrin. Then elevating her rich 
features and beaming eyes, she continued, in tones scarcely less 
penetrating than the unearthly voice of the patriarch himself — 

^ Tell me, is Tamenund a father ?” 

The old man looked down upon her from his elevated stand, 
with a benignant smile on his wasted countenance, and then 
casting his eyes slowly over the whole assemblage, he 
answ'ered — 

“ Of a nation.” 

“ For myself I ask nothing. Like thee and thine, venerable 
chief,” she continued, pressing her hands convulsively on her 
heart, and suffering her head to droop until her burning cheeks 
were nearly concealed in the maze of dark glossy tresses that 
fell in disorder upon her shoulders, “ the curse of my ancestors 
has fallen heavily on their child. But yonder is one who has 
never known the weight of Heaven’s displeasure until now. 
She is the daughter of an old and failing man, whose days are 
near their close. She has many, very many, to love her, and 
delight in her; and she is too good, much too precious, to 
become the victim of that villain.” 

“ I know that the pale-faces are a proud and hungry race. 
I know that they claim not only to have the earth, but that the 
meanest of their color is better than the Sachems of the red man. 
The dogs and crows of their tribes,” continued the earnest old 
chieftain, without heeding the wounded spirit of his listener, 
whose head was nearly crushed to the earth in shame, as he 
proceeded, “ would bark and caw before they would take a 
woman to their wigwams whose blood was not of the color of 
snow. But let them not boast before the face of the Manitto too 
loud. They entered the land at the rising, and may yet go off 
at the setting sun. I have often seen the locusts strip the leaves 
from the trees, but the season of blossoms has always come 
again.” 

“ It is so,” said Cora, drawing a long breath, as if reviving 
from a trance, raising her face, and shaking back her shining 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


387 


veil, with a kindling eye, that contradicted the death-like pale- 
ness of her countenance ; “ but why — it is not permitted us to 
inquire. There is yet one of thine own people who has not 
been brought before thee ; before thou lettest the Huron 
depart in triumph, hear him speak.” 

Observing Tamenund to look about him doubtingly, one of 
his companions said — 

“ It is a snake — a red-skin in the pay of the Yengeese. We 
keep him for the torture.” 

“ Let him come,” returned the sage. 

Then Tamenund once more sank into his seat, and a silence so 
deep prevailed, while the young men prepared to obey his sim- 
ple mandate, that the leaves, wdiich fluttered in the draught of 
the light morning air, were distinctly heard rustling in the 
surrounding forest. 


; 


888 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, 


CHAPTER XXX. 

If you deny mo, fie upon your law ! 

There is no force in the decrees of Venice ; 

I stand for judgment ; answer, shall I have it 1 

Shakspearb. 

The silence continued unbroken by human sounds for many 
anxious minutes. Then the waving multitude opened and shut 
again, and Uncas stood in the living circle. All those eyes, 
which had been curiously studying the lineaments of the sage, 
as the source of their own intelligence, turned on the instant, 
and were now bent in secret admiration on the erect, agile, and 
faultless person of the captive. But neither the presence in 
which he found himself, nor the exclusive attention that he 
attracted, in any manner disturbed the self-possession of the 
young Mohican. He cast a deliberate and observing look on 
every side of him, meeting the settled expression of hostility 
that lowered in the visages of the chiefs, with the same calmness 
as the curious gaze of the attentive children. But when, last 
in his haughty scrutiny, the person of Tamenund came under 
his glance, his eye became fixed, as though all other objects 
were already forgotten. Then advancing with a slow and 
noiseless step up the area, he placed himself immediately before 
the footstool of the sage. Here he stood unnoted, though 
keenly observant himself, until one of the chiefs apprised the 
latter of his presence. 

“ With what tongue does the prisoner speak to the Manitto ?” 
demanded the patriarch, without unclosing his eyes. 

“ Like his fathers,” Uncas replied ; “ with the tongue of a 
Delaware.” 

At this sudden and unexpected annunciation, a low, fierce 
yell ran through the multitude, that might not inaptly be com- 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 389 

pared to the growl of the lion, as his choler is first awakened — 
a fearful omen of the weight of his future anger. The effect 
was equally strong on the sage, though differently exhibited. 
He passed a hand before his eyes, as if to exclude the least 
evidence of so shameful a spectacle, while he repeated, in his 
low, guttural tones, the w^ords he had just heard. 

“ A Delaware ! I have lived to see the tribes of the Lenape 
driven from their council fires, and scattered, like broken herds 
of deer, among the hills of the Iroquois ! I have seen the 
hatchets of a strange people sw^eep woods from the valleys, that 
the winds of Heaven had spared ! The beasts that run on the 
mountains, and the birds that fly above the trees, have I seen 
living in the wigwams of men ; but never before have I found a 
Delaware so base as to creep, like a poisonous serpent, into the 
camps of his nation.” 

“ The singing-birds have opened their bills,” returned Uncas, 
in the softest notes of his own musical voice ; “ and Tamenund 
has heard their song.” 

The sage started, and bent his head aside, as if to catch the 
fleeting sounds of some passing melody. 

“ Does Tamenund dream !” he exclaimed. “ What voice is 
at his ear ! Have the winters gone backward ! Will summer 
come again to the children of the Lenape !” 

A Solemn and respectful silence succeeded this incoherent 
burst from the lips of the Delaware prophet. His people 
readily construed his unintelligible language into one of those 
mysterious conferences he was believed to hold so frequently 
with a superior intelligence, and they awaited the issue of the 
revelation in awe. After a patient pause, however, one of the 
aged men, perceiving that the sage had lost the recollection of 
the subject before them, ventured to remind him again of the 
presence of the prisoner. 

“ The false Delaware trembles lest he should hear the words 
of Tamenund,” he said. “ ’Tis a hound that howls, when the 
Yengeese show him a trail.” 

“And ye,” returned Uncas, looking sternly around him. 


390 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


^ are dogs that whine, when the Frenchman casts ye the oflfals 
of his deer !” 

Twenty knives gleamed in the air, and as many warriors 
sprang to their feet, at this biting, and perhaps merited, retort ; 
but a motion from one of the chiefs suppressed the outbreaking 
of their tempers, and restored the appearance of quiet. The 
task might probably have been more difficult, had not a move- 
ment made by Tamenund indicated that he was again about to 
speak. 

“ Delaware !” resumed the sage, “ little art thou worthy of 
thy name. My people have not seen a bright sun in many 
winters ; and the warrior who deserts his tribe when hid in 
clouds is doubly a traitor. The law of the Manitto is just. It 
is so ; while the rivers run and the mountains stand, while the 
blossoms come and go on the trees, it must be so. He is thine, 
my children ; deal justly by him.” 

Not a limb was moved, nor was a breath drawn louder and 
longer than common, until the closing syllable of this final 
decree had passed the lips of Tamenund. Then a cry of 
vengeance burst at once, as it might be, from the united lips of 
the nation ; a frightful augury of their ruthless intentions. In 
the midst of these prolonged and savage yells, a chief pro- 
claimed, in a high voice, that the captive was condemned to 
endure the dreadful trial of torture by fire. The circle broke its 
order, and screams of delight mingled with the bustle and 
tumult of preparation. Heyward struggled madly with his 
captors ; the anxious eyes of Hawk-eye began to look around 
him, with an expression of peculiar earnestness ; and Cora again 
threw herself at the feet of the patriarch, once more a suppliant 
for mercy. 

Throughout the whole of these trying moments, Uncas had 
alone preserved his serenity. He looked on the preparations 
with a steady eye, and when the tormenters* came to seize him, 
he met them with a firm and upright attitude. One among 
them, if possible, more fierce and savage than his fellows, 
seized the hunting shirt of th^ young warrior, and at a single 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 391 

effort tore it from his body. Tiien, with a yell of frantic plea- 
sure, he leaped towards his unresisting victim, and prepared tc 
lead him to the stake. But, at that moment, when he appeared 
most a stranger to the feelings of humanity, the purpose of the 
savage was arrested as suddenly as if a supernatural agency had 
interposed in the behalf of Uncas. The eye-balls of the Dela- 
ware seemed to start from their sockets ; his mouth opened, and 
his whole form became frozen in an attitude of amazement. 
Raising his hand with a slow and regulated motion, he pointed 
with a finger to the bosom of the captive. His companions 
crowded about him in wonder, and every eye was, like his own, 
fastened intently on the figure of a small tortoise, beautifully 
tattooed on the breast of the prisoner, in a bright blue tint. 

For a single instant Uncas enjoyed his triumph, smiling 
calmly on the scene. Then motioning the crowd away with a 
high and haughty sweep of his arm, he advanced in front of the 
nation with the air of a king, and spoke in a voice louder than 
the murmur of admiration that ran through the multitude. 

“ Men of the Lenni Lenape !” he said, “ my race upholds the 
earth ! Your feeble tribe stands on my shell ! What fire that 
a Delaware can light would burn the child of my fathers,” he 
added, pointing proudly to the simple blazonry on his skin; 
“ the blood that came from such a stock would smother your 
flames ! My race is the grandfather of nations !” 

“ Who art thou ?” demanded Tamenund, rising at the start- 
ling tones he heard, more than at any meaning conveyed by the 
language of the prisoner. 

“Uncas, the son of Chingachgook,” answered the captive 
modestly, turning from the nation, and bending his head in 
reverence to the other’s character and years ; “ a son of the 
great Unamis.”^ 

“ The hour of Tamenund is nigh !” exclaimed the sage ; “ the 
day is come, at last, to the night ! I thank the Manitto, that 
one is here to fill my place at the council-fire. Uncas, the child 


* Turtle. 


392 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


of Uncas, is found ! Let the eyes of a dying eagle gaze on the 
rising sun.” 

The youth stepped lightly, but proudly, on the platform, 
where he became visible to the whole agitated and wondering 
multitude. Tamenund held him long at the length of his arm, 
and read every turn in the fine lineaments of his countenance, 
with the untiring gaze of one who recalled days of happiness. 

“Is Tamenund a boy?” at length the bewildered prophet 
exclaimed. “ Have I dreamt of so many snows — that my 
people were scattered like floating sands — of Yengeese, more 
plenty than the leaves on the trees ! The arrow of Tamenund 
would not frighten the fawn ; his arm is withered like the 
branch of a dead oak ; the snail would be swifter in the race ; 
yet is Uncas before him as they went to battle against the pale- 
faces ! Uncas, the panther of his tribe, the eldest son of the 
Lenape, the wisest Sagamore of the Mohicans! Tell me, ye 
Delawares, has Tamenund been a sleeper for a hundred 
winters ?” 

The calm and deep silence which succeeded these words, 
sufiiciently announced the awful reverence with which his people 
received the communication of the patriarch. None dared to 
answer, though all listened in breathless expectation of what 
might follow. Uncas, however, looking in his face with the 
fondness and veneration of a favored child, presumed on his own 
high and acknowledged rank, to reply. 

“Four warriors of his race have lived, and died,” he said, 
“ since the friend of Tamenund led his people in battle. The 
blood of the turtle has been in many chiefs, but all have gone 
back into the earth from whence they came except Chingach- 
gook and his son.” 

“ It is true — it is true,” returned the sage — a flash of recol- 
lection destroying all his pleasing fancies, and restoring him at 
once to a consciousness of the true history of his nation * “ Our 

v/ise men have often said that two warriors of the uncljanged 
race were in the hills of the^ Yengeese ; why have their seats at 
the council fires of the Delawares been so long empty ?” 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


893 


At these words the young man raised his head, which he had 
still kept bowed a little, in reverence ; and lifting his voice so as 
to be heard by the multitude, as if to explain at once and 
for ever the policy of his family, he said aloud — 

“ Once we slept where we could hear the salt lake speak in 
its anger. Then we were rulers and Sagamores over the land. 
But when a pale-face was seen on every brook, we followed the 
deer back to the river of our nation. The Delawares were gone. 
Few warriors of them all stayed to drink of the stream they 
loved. Then said my fathers, ‘ Here will we hunt. The waters 
of the river go into the salt lake. If we go towards the setting 
sun, we shall find streams that run into the great lakes of sweet 
water ; there would a Mohican die, like fishes of the sea, in the 
clear springs. When the Manitto is ready, and shall say 
“ come,” we will follow the river to the sea, and take our own 
again.’ Such, Delawares, is the belief of the children of the 
Turtle. Our eyes are on the rising, and not towards the setting 
sun. We know whence he comes, but we know not whither he 
goes. It is enough.” 

The men of the Lenape listened to his words with all the 
respect that superstition could lend, finding a secret charm 
even in the figurative language with which the young Sagamore 
imparted his ideas. Uncas himself watched the effect of his 
brief explanation with intelligent eyes, and gradually dropped 
the air of authority he had assumed, as he perceived that his 
auditors were content. Then permitting his looks to wander 
over the silent throng that crowded around the elevated seat of 
Tamenund, he first perceived Hawk-eye in his bonds. Stepping 
eagerly from his stand, he made way for himself to the side of 
his friend ; and cutting his thongs with a quick and angry 
stroke of his own knife, he motioned to the crowd to divide 
The Indians silently obeyed, and once more they stood ranged in 
their circle, as before his appearance among them. Uncas took 
the scout by the hand, and led him to the feet of the patriarch. 

“ Father,” he said, “ look at this pale-face ; a just man, and 
the friend of the Delawares.” 

17 * 


394 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ Is lie a son of Miquon ?” 

“Not so ; a warrior known to the Yengeese, and feared by 
the Maquas.” 

“ What name has he gained by his deeds ?” 

“We call him Hawk-eye,” Uncas replied, using the Delaware 
phrase; “for his sight never fails. The Mingoes know him 
better by the death he gives their warriors : with them he is 
‘The long Rifle.’ ” 

“ La longue Carabine !” exclaimed Tamenund, opening his 
eyes, and regarding the scout sternly. “ My son has not done 
well to call him friend.” 

“ I call him so who proves himself such,” returned the 
young chief, with great calmness, but with a steady mien. 
“ If Uncas is welcome among the Delawares, then is Hawk-eye 
with his friends.” 

“ The pale-face has slain my young men ; his name is great 
for the blows he has struck the Lenape.” 

“If a Mingo has whispered that much in the ear of the 
Delaware, he has only shown that he is a singing-bird,” said 
the scout, who now believed that it was time to vindicate him- 
self from such offensive charges, and who spoke in the tongue 
of the man he addressed, modifying his Indian figures, however, 
with his own peculiar notions. “ That I have slain the Maquas 
I am not the man to deny, even at their own council fires ; but 
that, knowingly, my hand has ever harmed a Delaware, is 
opposed to the reason of my gifts, which is friendly to them, 
and all that belongs to their nation.” 

A low exclamation of applause passed among the warriors, 
who exchanged looks with each other like men that first began 
to perceive their error. 

“ Where is the Huron ?” demanded Tamenund. “ Has he 
stopped my ears ?” 

Magua, whose feelings during that scene in which Uncas 
had triumphed may be much better imagined than described, 
answered to the call by stepping boldly in front of the 
patriarch. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


395 


“ The just Tamenimd,” he said, “ will not keep what a 
Huron has lent.” 

“ Tell me, son of my brother,” returned the sage, avoiding 
the dark countenance of Le Subtil, and turning gladly to the 
more ingenuous features of Uncas, “has the stranger a con- 
queror’s right over you ?” 

“ He has none. The panther may get into snares set by the 
women ; but he is strong, and knows how to leap through 
them.” 

“ La longue Carabine ?” 

“ Laughs at the Mingoes. Go, Huron, ask your squaws the 
color of a bear.” 

“The stranger and the white maiden that came into my 
camp together ?” 

“ Should journey on an open path.” 

“ And the woman that Huron left with my warriors 3” 

Uncas made no reply. 

“ And the woman that the Mingo has brought into my camp,” 
repeated Tamenund, gravely. 

“ She is mine,” cried Magua, shaking his hand in triumph at 
Uncas. “ Mohican, you know that she is mine.” 

“ My son is silent,” said Tamenund, endeavoring to read the 
expression of the face that the youth turned from him in sorrow. 

“ It is so,” was the low answer. 

A short and impressive pause succeeded, during which it was 
very apparent with what reluctance the multitude admitted the 
justice of the Mingo’s claim. At length the sage, on whom 
alone the decision depended, said, in a firm voice, — 

“ Huron, depart.” 

“As he came, just Tamenund,” demanded the wily Magua: 
“ or with hands filled with the faith of the Delawares ? The 
wigwam of Le Renard subtil is empty. Make him strong with 
bis own.” 

The aged man mused with himself for a time; and then 
bending his head towards one of his venerable companions, he 
asked — 


396 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


“ Are my ears open ?” 

“ It is true.” 

“Is this Mingo a chief?” 

“ The first in his nation.” 

“ Girl, what wouldst thou ? A great warrior takes thee to 
wife. Go ; thy race will not end.” 

“ Better, a thousand times, it should,” exclaimed the horror- 
struck Cora, “ than meet with such a degradation !” 

“ Huron, her mind is in the tents of her fathers. An unwil- 
ling maiden makes an unhappy wigwam.” 

“ She speaks with the tongue of her people,” returned Magua, 
regarding his victim with a look of bitter irony. “ She is of a 
race of traders, and will bargain for a bright look. Let Tame- 
nund speak the words.” 

“ Take you the wampum, and our love.” 

“ Hothing hence but what Magua brought hither.” 

“ Then depart with thine own. The Great Manitto forbids 
that a Delaware should be unjust.” 

Magua advanced, and seized his captive strongly by the arm ; 
the Delawares fell back, in silence ; and Cora, as if conscious 
that remonstrance would be useless, prepared to submit to her 
fate without resistance. 

“ Hold, hold !” cried Duncan, springing forward ; “ Huron, 
have mercy ! her ransom shall make thee richer than any of 
thy people were ever yet known to be.” 

“ Magua is a red-skin ; he wants not the beads of the pale- 
faces.” 

“ Gold, silver, powder, lead — all that a warrior needs shall 
be in thy wigwam ; all that becomes the greatest chief.” 

“ Le Subtil is very strong,” cried Magua, violently shaking 
the hand which grasped the unresisting arm of Cora ; “ he has 
his revenge !” 

“ Mighty ruler of providence !” exclaimed Heyward, clasping 
his hands together in agony, “ can this be suffered ! To you, 
just Tamenund, I appeal for mercy.” 

“The words of the Delaware are said,” returned the sage, 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


397 


closina^ bis eyes, and dropping back into his seat, alike wearied 
with his mental and his bodily exertion. “Men speak not 
twice.” 

“ That a chief should not misspend his time in unsaying 
what has once been spoken, is wise and reasonable,” said Hawk- 
eye, motioning to Duncan to be silent ; “ but it is also prudent 
in every warrior to consider well before he strikes his tomahawk 
into the head of his prisoner.' Huron, I love you not ; nor can 
I say that any Mingo has ever received much favor at my 
hands. It is fair to conclude, that, if this war does not soon 
end, many more of your warriors will meet me in the woods. 
Put it to your judgment, then, whether you would prefer 
taking such a prisoner as that into your encampment, or one 
like myself, who am a man that it would greatly rejoice your 
nation to see with naked hands.” 

“ Will ‘ The long Rifle ’ give his life for the woman ?” 
demanded Magua, hesitatingly ; for he had already made a mo- 
tion towards quitting the place with his victim. 

“ No, no ; I have not said so much as that,” returned Hawk- 
eye, drawing back with suitable discretion, when he noted the 
eagerness with which Magua listened to his proposal. “ It 
would be an unequal exchange, to give a warrior, in the prime 
of his age and usefulness, for the best woman on the frontiers. 
I might consent to go into winter quarters, now — at least six 
weeks afore the leaves will turn — on condition you will release 
the maiden.” 

Magua shook his head, and made an impatient sign for the 
crowd to open. 

“ Well, then,” added the scout, with the musing air of a man 
who had not half made up his mind, “ I will throw ‘ Kill-deer’ 
into the bargain. Take the word of an experienced hunter, the 
piece has not its equal atween the provinces.” 

Magua still disdained to reply, continuing his efforts to dis- 
perse the crowd. 

“ Perhaps,” added the scout, losing his dissembled coolness, 
exactly in proportion as the other manifested an indifference to 


398 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


the exchange, ‘‘ if I should condition to teach your young men 
the real virtue of the we’pon, it would smoothe the little differ- 
ences in our judgments.” 

Le Renard fiercely ordered the Delawares, who still lingered 
in an impenetrable belt around him, in hopes he would listen to 
the amicable proposal, to open his path, threatening, by the 
glance of his eye, another appeal to the infallible justice of their 
“ prophet.” 

“ What is ordered must sooner or later arrive,” continued 
Hawk-eye, turning with a sad and humbled look to Uncas. 
“ The varlet knows his advantage, and will keep it ! God bless 
you, boy ; you have found friends among your natural kin, and 
I hope they will prove as true as some you have met who had 
no Indian cross. As for me, sooner or later, I must die ; it is 
therefore fortunate there are but few to make my death-howl. 
After all, it is likely the imps would have managed to master 
my scalp, so a day or two will make no great difference in the 
everlasting reckoning of time. God bless you,” added the 
rugged woodsman, bending his head aside, and then instantly 
changing its direction again, with a wistful look towards the 
youth ; “ I loved both you and your father, Uncas, though our 
skins are not altogether of a color, and our gifts are somewhat 
different. Tell the Sagamore I never lost sight of him in my 
greatest trouble ; and, as for you, think of me sometimes when 
on a lucky trail ; and depend on it, boy, whether there be one 
heaven or two, there is a path in the other world by which 
honest men may come together again. You’ll find the rifle in 
the place we hid it ; take it, and keep it for my sake ; and 
harkee, lad, as your natural gifts don’t deny you the use of 
vengeance, use it a little freely on the Mingoes ; it may unbur- 
den grief at my loss, and ease your mind. Huron, I accept 
your offer ; release the woman. I am your prisoner.” 

A suppressed, but still distinct murmur of approbation, ran 
through the crowd at this generous proposition ; even the 
fiercest among the Delaware warriors manifesting pleasure at 
the manliness of the intended sacrifice. Magua paused, and for 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


399 


an anxious moment, it might be said, he doubted ; then casting 
his eyes on Cora, with an expression in which ferocity and 
admiration were strangely mingled, his purpose became fixed 
for ever. 

lie intimated his contempt of the offer with a backward 
motion of his head, and said, in a steady and settled voice — 

“ Le Renard subtil is a great chief ; he has but one mind. 
Come,” he added, laying his hand too familiarly on the shoul- 
der of his captive to urge her onward ; “ a Huron is no tattler; 
we will go.” 

The maiden drew back in lofty womanly reserve, and her 
dark eye kindled, while the rich blood shot, like the passing 
brightness of the sun, into her very temples, at the indignity. 

“ I am your prisoner, and at a fitting time shall be ready to 
follow, even to my death. But violence is unnecessary,” she 
coldly said; and immediately turning to Hawk-eye, added, 

Generous hunter ! from my soul I thank you. Your offer is 
vain, neither could it be accepted ; but still you may serve me, 
even more than in your own noble intention. Look at that 
drooping, humbled child ! Abandon her not until you leave 
her in the habitations of civilized men. I will not say,” wring- 
ing the hard hand of the scout, “ that her father will reward 
you — for such as you are above the rewards of men — but he 
wi\l thank you, and bless you. And, believe me, the blessing 
of a just and aged man has virtue in the sight of Heaven. 
AVould to God, I could hear one from his lips at this awful 
moment !” Her voice became choked, and, for an instant, she 
w'as silent ; then advancing a step nigher to Duncan, who was 
supporting her unconscious sister, she continued, in more sub- 
dued tones, but in which feeling and the habits of her sex main- 
tained a fearful struggle, — “ I need not tell you to cherish the 
treasure you will possess. You love her, Heyward ; that would 
conceal a thousand faults, though she had them. She is kind, 
gentle, sweet, good, as mortal may be. There is not a blemish 
in mind or person at wLich the proudest of you all would 
sicken. She is fair — Oh ! how surpassingly fair !” laying her 


400 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


own beautiful, but less brilliant hand, in melancholy affection on 
the alabaster forehead of Alice, and parting the golden hair 
which clustered about her brows ; “ and yet her soul is pure 
and spotless as her skin ! I could say much — more, perhaps, 
than cooler reason would approve ; but I will spare you and 
myself — ” Her voice became inaudible, and her face was bent 
over the form of her sister. After a long and burning kiss, she 
arose, and with features of the hue of death, but without even 
a tear in her feverish eye, she turned away, and added, to the 
savage, with all her former elevation of manner, — “ How, sir, if 
it be your pleasure, I will follow.” 

“ Ay, go,” cried Duncan, placing Alice in the arms of an 
Indian girl ; “ go, Magua, go. These Delawares have their laws, 
which forbid them to detain you ; but I — I have no such obli- 
gation. Go, malignant monster — why do you delay ?” 

It would be difficult to describe the expression with which 
Magua listened to this threat to follow. There was at first a 
fierce and manifest display of joy, and then it was instantly 
subdued in a look of cunning coldness. 

“The woods are open,” he was content with answering; 
“ ‘ The open Hand’ can come.” 

“ Hold,” cried Hawk-eye, seizing Duncan by the arm, and 
detaining him by violence ; “ you know not the craft of the 
imp. He would lead you to an ambushment, and your 
death — ” 

“ Huron,” interrupted Uncas, who, submissive to the stern 
customs of his people, had been an attentive and grave listener 
to all that passed ; “ Huron, the justice of the Delawares comes 
from the Manitto. Look at the sun. He is now in the upper 
branches of the hemlock. Your path is short and open. 
When he is seen above the trees, there wnll be men on your 
trail.” 

“ I hear a crow !” exclaimed Magua, with a taunting laugh. 
“ Go,” he added, shaking his hand at the crowd, which had 
slowly opened to admit his passage — “ Where are the petticoats 
of the Delawares ! Let them send their arrows and their guns 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


401 


to tlie Wyandots ; they shall have venison to eat, and corn to 
hoe. Dogs, rabbits, thieves — I spit on yon.” 

His parting gibes were listened to in a dead, boding silence ; 
and, with these biting words in his mouth, the triumphant 
Magua passed unmolested into the forest, followed by his 
passive captive, and protected by the inviolable laws of Indian 
hospitality. 


I 


402 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER XXXL 

Flue. Kill the poys and the luggage ! ’Tis expressly against the law of anna 
’lis as arrant a piece of knavery, mark you now, as can be offered in the ’orld. 

King Henry V. 


So long as their enemy and his victim continued in sight, the 
multitude remained motionless as beings charmed to the place 
by some power that was friendly to the Huron ; but the in- 
stant he disappeared^ it became tossed and agitated by fierce 
and powerful passion. Uncas maintained his- elevated stand, 
keeping his eyes on the form of Cora, until the colors of her 
dress were blended with the foliage of the forest ; when he 
descended, and moving silently through the throng, he disap- 
peared in that lodge from which he had so recently issued. A 
few of the graver and more attentive 'warriors, who caught the 
gleams of anger that shot from the eyes of the young chief in 
passing, followed him to the place he had selected for his medi- 
tations. After which, Tamenund and Alice were removed, and 
the women and children were ordered to disperse. During the 
momentous hour that succeeded, the encampment resembled a 
hive of troubled bees, who only awaited the appearance and 
example of their leader to take some distant and momentous 
flight. 

A young warrior at length issued from the lodge of Uncas ; 
and moving deliberately, with a sort of grave march, towards a 
dwarf pine that grew in the crevices of the rocky terrace, he 
tore the bark from its body, and then returned whence he 
came without speaking. He was soon followed by another, 
who stripped the sapling of its branches, leaving it a naked and 
blazed^ trunk. A third colored the post with stripes of a dark 

* A tree which has been partially or entirely stripped of its bark is said, in the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


403 


red paint ; all which indications of a hostile, design in the 
leaders of the nation were received by the men without in a 
gloomy and ominous silence. Finally, the Mohican himself 
re-appeared, divested of all his attire except his girdle and 
leggings, and with one half of his fine features hid under a 
cloud of threatening black. 

Uncas moved with a slow and dignified tread towards the 
post, which he immediately commenced encircling with a 
measured step, not unlike an ancient dance, raising his voice, at 
the same time, in the wild and irregular chant of his war-song. 
The notes were in the extremes of human sounds ; being 
sometimes melancholy and exquisitely plaintive, even rivalling 
the melody of birds — and then, by sudden and startling 
transitions, causing the auditors to tremble by their depth and 
energy. The words were few and often repeated, proceeding 
gradually from a sort of invocation, or hymn to the Deity, to 
an intimation of the warrior’s object, and terminating as they 
commenced with an acknowledgment of his own dependence 
on the Great Spirit. If it were possible to translate the 
comprehensive and melodious language in which he spoke, the 
ode might read something like the following : — 


“Manitto! Manitto ! Manitto ! 

Thou art great, thou art good, thou art wise : 
Manitto! Manitto! 

Thou art just. 

“In the heavens, in the clouds, oh ! I see 
Many spots — many dark, many red : 

In the heavens, oh 1 I see 
Many clouds. 

“ In the woods, in the air, oh ! I hear 
The whoop, the long yell, and the cry : 

In the woods, oh ! I hear 
The loud whoop ! 

“ Manitto ! Manitto ! Manitto ! 

I am weak— thou art strong ; I am slow— 
Manitto! Manitto! 

Give me aid.” 


language of the country, to be “ blazed.” The term is strictly English : for a horse 
is said to be blazed when it has a white mark. 


404 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


At the end of what might be called each verse he made a 
pause, by raising a note louder and longer than common, that 
was peculiarly suited to the sentiment just expressed. The 
first close was solemn, and intended to convey the idea of 
veneration ; the second descriptive, bordering on the alarming ; 
and the third was the well known and terrific war-whoop, 
which burst from the lips of the young warrior, like a combi- 
nation of all the frightful sounds of battle. The last was like 
the first, humble and imploring. Three times did he repeat 
this song, and as often did he encircle the post in his dance. 

At the close of the first turn, a grave and highly esteemed 
chief of the Lenape followed his example, singing words of his 
own, however, to music of a similar character. Warrior after 
warrior enlisted in the dance, until all of any renown and 
authority were numbered in its mazes. The spectacle now 
became wildly terrific ; the fierce-looking and menacing visages 
of the chiefs receiving additional power from the appalling 
strains in which they mingled their guttural tones. Just then 
Uncas struck his tomahawk deep into the post, and raised his 
voice in a shout, which might be termed his own battle-cry. 
The act announced that he had assumed the chief authority in 
the intended expedition. 

It was a signal that awakened all the slumbering passions of 
the nation. A hundred youths, who had hitherto been 
restrained by the diffidence of their years, rushed in a frantic 
body on the fancied emblem of their enemy, and severed it 
asunder, splinter by splinter, until nothing remained of the 
trunk but its roots in the earth. During this moment of 
tumult, the most ruthless deeds of war were performed on the 
fragments of the tree, with as much apparent ferocity as if they 
were the living victims of their cruelty. Some were scalped ; 
some received the keen and trembling axe ; and others suffered 
by thrusts from the fatal knife. In short, the manifestations of 
zeal and fierce delight were so great and unequivocal, that the 
expedition was declared to be a war of the nation. 

The instant Uncas had struck the blow, he moved out of the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


405 


circle, and cast his eyes up to the sun, which was just gaining 
the point, when the truce with Magua was to end. The fact 
was soon announced by a significant gesture, accompamed by a 
corresponding cry; and the whole of the excited multitude 
abandoned their mimic warfare, with shrill yells of pleasure, to 
prepare for the more hazardous experiment of the reality. 

The whole face of the encampment was instantly changed. 
The warriors, who were already armed and painted, became as 
still as if they were incapable of any uncommon burst of 
emotion. On the other hand, the women broke out of the 
lodges, with the songs of joy and those of lamentation, so 
strangely mingled, that it might have been difficult to have said 
which passion preponderated. None, hoAvever, were idle. 
Some bore their choicest articles, others their young, and some 
their aged and infirm, into the forest, which spread itself like a 
verdant carpet of bright green against the side of the mountain. 
Thither Tamenund also retired, with calm composure, after a 
short and touching interview with Uncas ; from whom the sage 
separated with the reluctance that a parent would quit a long 
lost and just recovered child. In the meantime, Duncan saw 
Alice to a place of safety, and then sought the scout, with a 
countenance that denoted how eagerly he also panted for the 
approaching contest. 

But Hawk-eye was too much accustomed to the war song 
and the enlistments of the natives, to betray any interest in the 
passing scene. He merely cast an occasional look at the 
number and quality of the warriors, who, from time to time, 
signified their readiness to accompany Uncas to the field. In 
this particular he was soon satisfied ; for, as has been already 
seen, the power of the young chief quickly embraced every 
fighting man in the nation. After this material point was so 
satisfactorily decided, he despatched an Indian boy in quest of 
“Kill-deer” and the rifle of Uncas, to the place where they had 
deposited the weapons on approaching the camp of the Dela- 
wares ; a measure of double policy, inasmuch as it protected the 
arms from their own fate, if detained as prisoners, and gave 


400 


THE LAST OF THE M O fl I C A N S . 


tliem the advantage of appearing among the strangers rather fts 
sufferers tlian as men provided with the means of defence and 
subsistence. In selecting another to perform the office of 
reclaiming his highly prized rifle, the scout had lost sight of 
none of his habitual caution. He knew that Magua had not 
come unattended, and he also knew that Huron spies watched 
the movements of their new enemies, along the whole boundary 
of the woods. It would, therefore, have been fatal to himself to 
have attempted the experiment ; a warrior would have fared no 
better ; but the danger of a boy would not be likely to com- 
mence until after his object was discovered. When Heyward 
joined him, the scout was coolly awaiting the result of this 
experiment. 

The boy, who had been well instructed, and was sufficiently 
crafty, proceeded, with a bosom that was swelling with the pride 
of such a confidence, and all the hopes of young ambition, care- 
lessly across the clearing to the wood, which he entered at a 
point at some little distance from the place where the guns were 
secreted. The instant, however, he was concealed by the 
foliage of the bushes, his dusky form was to be seen gliding, 
like that of a serpent, towards the desired treasure. He was 
successful ; and in another moment he appeared flying across 
the narrow opening that skirted the base of the terrace on 
which the village stood, with the velocity of an arrow, and 
bearing a prize in each hand. He had actually gained the 
crags, and was leaping up their sides with incredible activity, 
when a shot from the woods showed how accurate had been 
the judgment of the scout. The boy answered it with a feeble 
but contemptuous shout ; and immediately a second bullet was 
sent after him from another part of the cover. At the next 
instant he appeared on the level above, elevating his guns in 
triumph, while he moved with the air of a conqueroi towards 
the renowned hunter who had honored him by so glorious a 
commission. 

Notwithstanding the lively interest Hawk eye had taken 
in the fate of his messenger, he received “ Kill-deer ” with a 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 407 

satisfaction that, momentarily, drove all other recollections from 
his mind. After examining the piece with an intelligent eye, 
and opening and shutting the pan some ten or fifteen times, 
and trying sundry other equally important experiments on the 
lock, he turned to the boy, and demanded with great manifesta- 
tions of kindness, if he was hurt. The urchin looked proudly 
up in his face, but made no reply. 

“ Ah ! I see, lad, the knaves have barked your arm !” added 
the scout, taking up the limb of the patient sufferer, across 
which a deep flesh wound had been made by one of the bullets ; 
“ but a little bruised alder will act like a charm. In the mean- 
time I will wrap it in a badge of wampum ! You have com- 
menced the business of a warrior early, my brave boy, and are 
likely to bear a plenty of honorable scars to your grave. I know 
many young men that have taken scalps who cannot show such 
a mark as this. Go,” having bound up the arm ; “you will be 
a chief!” 

The lad departed, prouder of his flowing blood than the 
vainest courtier could be of his blushing riband ; and stalked 
among the fellows of his age, an object of general admiration 
and envy. 

But in a moment of so many serious and important duties, 
this single act of juvenile fortitude did not attract the general 
notice and commendation it would have received under milder 
auspices. It had, however, served to apprise the Delawares of 
the position and the intentions of their enemies. Accordingly 
a party of adventurers, better suited to the task than the weak 
though spirited boy, was ordered to dislodge the skulkers. The 
duty was soon performed ; for most of the Hurons retired of 
themselves when they found they had been discovered. The Dela- 
wares followed to a sufficient distance from their own encamp- 
ment, and then halted for orders, apprehensive of being led 
into an ambush. As both parties secreted themselves, the woods 
were again as still and quiet as a mild summer morning and 
deep solitude could render them. 

The calm but still impatient Uncas now collected his chiefs, 


408 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


and divided his power. He presented Hawk-eye as a warrior, 
often tried, and always found deserving ot confidence. When 
he found his friend met with a favorable reception, he bestowed 
on him the command of twenty men, like himself, active, skilful, 
and resolute. He gave the Delawares to understand the rank 
of Heyward among the troops of the Yengeese, and then 
tendered to him a trust of equal authority. But Duncan 
declined the charge, professing his readiness to serve as a 
volunteer by the side of the scout. After this disposition, the 
young Mohican appointed various native chiefs to fill the difter- 
ent situations of responsibility, and the time pressing, he gave 
forth the word to march. He was cheerfully, but silently, 
obeyed by more than two hundred men. 

Their entrance into the forest was perfectly unmolested ; nor 
did they encounter any living objects, that could either give 
the alarm, or furnish the intelligence they needed, until they 
came upon the lairs of their own scouts. Here a halt was 
ordered, and the chiefs were assembled to hold a “ whispering 
council.” At this meeting divers plans of operation were 
suggested, though none of a character to meet the wdshes of 
their ardent leader. Had Uncas followed the promptings of his 
own inclinations, he would have led his followers to the charge 
without a moment’s delay, and put the conflict to the hazard 
of an instant issue ; but such a course would have been in 
opposition to all the received practices and opinions of his 
countrymen. He was, therefore, fain to adopt a caution that 
in the present temper of his mind he execrated, and to listen to 
advice at which his fiery spirit chafed, under the vivid recollec- 
tion of Cora’s danger and Magua’s insolence. 

After an unsatisfactory conference of many minutes, a solitary 
individual was seen advancing from the side of the enemy, with 
such apparent haste, as to induce the belief he might be a 
messenger charged wdth pacific overtures. When within a 
hundred yards, however, of the cover behind which the Dela- 
ware council had assembled, the stranger hesitated, appeared 
uncertain what course to take, and finally halted. All eyes 


T H K LAST OF THE M O H I C A N S . 


409 


were now turned on Uncas, as if seeking directions how to pro- 
ceed. 

“ Hawk-eye,” said the young chief, in a low voice, “ he must 
never speak to the Ilurons again.” 

“ His time has come,” said the laconic scout, tlirusting the 
long barrel of his rifle through the leaves, and taking his deli- 
berate and fatal aim. But, instead of pulling the trigger, he 
lowered the muzzle again, and indulged himself in a fit of his 
peculiar mirth. “ I took the imp for a Mingo, as I’m a miser- 
able sinner !” he said ; “ but when my eye ranged along his 
ribs for a place to get the bullet in — would you think it, Uncas 
— I saw the musicianer’s blower ! and so, after all, it is the man 
they call Gamut, whose death can profit no one, and whose life, 
if his tongue can do anything but sing, may be made service- 
able to our own ends. If sounds have not lost their virtue. I’ll 
soon have a discourse with the honest fellow, and that in a 
voice he’ll find more agreeable than the speech of ‘Kill-deer.’ ” 

So saying. Hawk-eye laid aside his rifle ; and crawling 
through the bushes until within hearing of David, he attempted 
to repeat the musical effort, which had conducted himself, with 
so much safety and eclat, through the Huron encampment. 
The exquisite organs of Gamut could not readily be deceived 
(and, to say the truth, it would have been difficult for any other 
than Hawk-eye to produce a similar noise), and consequently, 
having once before heard the sounds, he now knew whence 
they proceeded. The poor fellow appeared relieved from a 
state of great embarrassment ; for pursuing the direction of the 
voice — a task that to him was not much less arduous than it 
would have been to have gone up in the face of a battery — he 
soon discovered the hidden songster. 

“ I wonder what the Hurons will think of that ! ” said the 
scout, laughing, as he took his companion by the arm, and 
urged him towards the rear. “ If the knaves lie within ear-shot, 
they will say there are two non-compossers instead of one ! 
But here we are safe,” he added, pointing to Uncas and his 
associates. “ Now give us the history of the Mingo inventions 

18 


410 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


in natural English, and without any ups and downs of 
voice.” 

David gazed about liini, at the fierce and wild-looking 
chiefs, in mute wonder ; but assured by the presence of faces 
that he knew, he soon rallied his faculties so far as to make an 
intelligent reply. 

“ The heathen are abroad in goodly numbers,” said David ; 
“and, I fear, with evil intent. There has been much howling 
and ungodly revelry, together with such sounds as it is 
profanity to utter, in their habitations within the past hour ; so 
much so, in truth, that I have fled to the Delawares in search 
of peace.” 

“ Your ears might not have profited much by the exchange, 
had you been quicker of foot,” returned the scout a little drily. 
“ But let that be as it may ; where are the Hurons ? ” 

“ They lie hid in the forest, between this spot and their 
village, in such force, that prudence w^ould teach you instantly 
to return.” 

Uncas cast a glance along the range of trees which concealed 
his own band and mentioned the name of — 

“ Magua ? ” 

“ Is among inem. He brought in the maiden that had 
sojourned with the Delawares, and leaving her in the cave, has 
put himself, like a raging wolf, at the head of his savages. I 
know not what has troubled his spirit so greatly ! ” 

“ He has left her, you say, in the cave I ” interrupted Hey- 
ward ; “ tis well that we know its situation ! May not some- 
thing be done for her instant relief? ” 

Uncas looked earnestly at the scout, before he asked — 

“ What says Hawk-eye ?” 

“ Give me my twenty rifles, and I will turn to the right, 
along the stream ; and passing by the huts of the beaver, will 
join the Sagamore and the colonel. You shall then hear the 
whoop from that quarter ; with this wind one may easily send 
t a mile. Then, Uncas, do you drive in their front; when 
they come within range of our pieces, we will give them a blow 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


41\ 


that, I pledge the good name of an old frontiersman, shall make 
their line bond like an ashen bow. After which, we will cari-y 
their village, and take the woman from the cave; when the 
affair may be finished with the tribe, according to a white man’s 
battle, by a blow and a victory ; or, in the Indian fashion, with 
dodge and cover. There may oe no great learning, major, m 
this plan, but with courage and patience it can all be done.” 

1 like it much,” cried Duncan, who saw that the release of 
Cora was the primary object in the mind of the scout ; “ I like 
it much. Let it be instantly attempted.” 

After a short conference, the plan was matured, and rendered 
more intelligible to the several parties ; the different signals 
were appointed, and the chiefs separated, each to his allotted 
station. 


412 


THE LAST OF THE M O 11 1 C A N » . 


CHAPTER XXXII. 


But plagues shall spread, and funeral fires increase, 

Till the great king, without a ransom paid. 

To her own Chrysa send the black-eyed maid. Pope. 


During the time Uncas was making this disposition of his 
forces, the woods were as still, and, with the exception of those 
who had met in council, apparently as much untenanted, as 
when they came fresh from the hands of their Almighty Creator. 
The eye could range, in every direction, through the long 
and shadowed vistas of the trees ; but nowhere was any object 
to be seen that did not properly belong to the peaceful and 
slumbering scenery. Here and there a bird was heard flutter- 
ing among the branches of the beeches, and occasionally a 
squirrel dropped a nut, drawing the startled looks of the 
party, for a moment, to the place ; bnt the instant the casual 
interruption ceased, the passing air was heard murmuring above 
their heads, along that verdant and undulating surface of forest, 
which spread itself unbroken, unless by stream or lake, over 
such a vast region of country. Across the tract of wilderness, 
which lay between the Delawares and the village of their 
enemies, it seemed as if the foot of man had never trodden, so 
breathing and deep was the silence in which it lay. But 
Hawk-eye,jy^lose duty led him foremost in the adventure, knew 
the character of those with whom he was about to contend too 
well to trust the treacherous quiet. 

When he saw his little band collected, the scout threw 
“ Kill-deer ” into the hollow of his arm, and making a silent 
signal that he would be followed, he led them many rods 
towards the rear, into the bed of a little brook which they had 
crossed in advancing. Here he halted, and after waiting for 


i-HK LAST UV THE MOHICANS. 419 

tbe whole of his grave and attentive warriors to close about 
him, he spoke in Delaware, demanding — 

“ Do any of my young men know whither this run will 
lead us ?” 

A Delaware stretched forth a hand, with the two fingers 
separated, and indicating the manner in which they were joined 
at the root, he answered — 

“ Before the sun could go his own length, the little water will 
be in the big.” Then he added, pointing in the direction of 
the place he mentioned, “ the two make enough for the 
beavers.” 

“ I thought as much,” returned the scout, glancing his eye 
upwards at the opening in the tree-tops, “ from the course it 
takes, and the bearings of the mountains. Men, we will keep 
within the cover of its banks till we scent the Hurons.” 

His companions gave the usual brief exclamation of assent, 
but perceiving that their leader was about to lead the way in 
person, one or two made signs that all was not as it should be. 
Hawk-eye, who comprehended their meaning glances, turned, 
and perceived that his party had, been followed thus far by the 
singing master. 

“ Do you know, friend,” asked the scout gravely, and perhaps 
with a little of the pride of conscious deserving in his manner,' 
“ that this is a band of rangers chosen for the most desperate 
service, and put under the command of one who, though 
another might say it with a better face, will not be apt to leave 
them idle. It may not be five, it cannot be thirty, minutes 
before we tread on the body of a Huron, living or dead.” 

“ Though not admonished of your intentioA in words,” 
returned David, whose face was a little flushed, and whoso 
ordinarily quiet and unmeaning eyes glimmered with an 
expression of unusual fire, “ your men have reminded me of the 
children of Jacob going out to battle against the Shechemites, 
for wickedly aspiring to wedlock with a woman of a race that 
was favored of the Lord. Now, I have jcurneyed far, and 
sojourned much in good and evil with the maiden ye seek; 


414 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


and though not a man of war, with my loins girded and 
my sword sharpened, yet would I gladly strike a blow in her 
behalf” 

The scout hesitated, as if weighing the chances of such a 
strange enlistment in his mind before he answered — 

“You know not the use of any we’pon. You carry nc 
rifle ; and believe me, what the Mingoes take they will freely 
give again.” 

“ Though not a vaunting and bloodily disposed Goliah,” 
returned David, drawing a sling from beneath his parti-colored 
and uncouth attire, “ I have not forgotten the example of the 
Jewish boy. With this ancient instrument of war have I 
practised much in my youth, and peradventure the skill has 
not entirely departed from me.” 

“ Ay ! ” said Hawk-eye, considering the djeer-skin thong and 
apron, with a cold and discouraging eye ; “ the thing might do 
its work among arrows, or even knives ; but these Mengwe 
have been furnished by the Frenchers with a good grooved 
barrel a man. However, it seems to be your gift to go 
unharmed amid fire ; and as you have hitherto been favored 

major, you have left your rifle at a cock ; a single 

shot before the time would be just twenty scalps lost to no 
purpose — singer, you can follow ; we may find use for you in 
the shoutings.” 

“ I thank you, friend,” returned David, supplying himself, 
like his royal namesake, from among the pebbles of the brook ; 

“ though not given to the desire to kill, had you sent me away 
my spirit would have been troubled.” 

“ Remember,” added the scout, tapping his own head 
significantly on that spot where Gamut was yet sore, “ we come 
to fight, and not to musickate. Until the general whoop is 
given, nothing speaks but the rifle.” 

David nodded, as much as to signify his acquiescence with 
the terms 5 and then Hawk-eye, casting another observant 
glance over his followers, made the signal to proceed. 

Their route lay, for the distance of a mile, along tbe bed of 


THE LAST 01' THE MOHICANS. 


415 


the water-course. Though protected from any great danger of 
observation by the precipitous banks, and the thick shrubbery 
which skirted the stream, no precaution known to an Indian 
attack was neglected. A warrior rather crawled than walked 
on each flank, so as to catch occasional glimpses into the forest ; 
and every few minutes the band came to a halt, and listened 
for hostile sounds, with an acuteness of organs that would be 
scarcely conceivable to a man in a less natural state. Their 
march was, however, unmolested, and they reached the point 
where the lesser stream was lost in the greater, without the 
smallest evidence that their progress had been noted. Here 
the scout again halted, to consult the signs of the forest. 

“ We are likely to have a good day for a fight,” he said, in 
English, addressing Heyward, and glancing his eye upwards at 
the clouds, which began to move in broad sheets across the 
firmament; “a bright sun and a glittering barrel are no friends 
to true sight. Everything is favorable ; they have the wind, 
which 'will bring down their noises and their smoke too, no 
little matter in itself ; whereas, with us it will be first a shot, 
and then a clear view. But here is an end of our cover ; the 
beavers have had the range of this stream for hundreds of 
years, and what atween their food and their dams, there is, as 
you see, many a girdled stub, but few living trees.” 

Hawk-eye had, in truth, in these few words, given no bad 
description of the prospect that now lay in their front. The 
brook was irregular in its width, sometimes shooting through 
narrow fissures in the rocks, and at others spreading over acres 
of bottom land, forming little areas that might be termed 
ponds. Everywhere along its banks were the mouldering 
relics of dead trees, in all the stages of decay, from those that 
groaned on their tottering trunks to such as had recently been 
robbed of those rugged coats that so mysteriously contain their 
principle of life. A few long, low, and moss-covered piles 
were scattered among them, like the memorials of a former and 
long-departed generation. 

All these minute particulars were noted by the scout, with a 


416 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


gravity and interest that they probably had never before 
attracted. He knew that the Huron encampment lay a short 
half mile up the brook ; and, with the characteristic anxiety of 
one who dreaded a hidden danger, he was greatly troubled at 
not finding the smallest trace of the presence of his enemy. 
Once or twice he felt induced to give the order for a rush, and 
to attempt the village by surprise ; but his experience quickly 
admonished him of the danger of so useless an experiment. 
Then he listened intently, and with painful uncertainty, for 
the sounds of hostility in the quarter where Uncas was left ; 
but nothing was audible except the sighing of the wind, that 
began to sweep over the bosom of the forest in gusts which 
threatened a tempest. At length, yielding rather to his un- 
usual impatience than taking counsel from his knowledge, he 
determined to bring matters to an issue, ’by unmasking his 
force, and proceeding cautiously, but steadily, up the stream. 

The scout had stood, while making his observations, sheltered 
by a brake, and his companions still lay in the bed of the 
ravine, through which the smaller stream debouched ; but on 
hearing his low, though intelligible signal, the whole party 
stole up the bank, like so many dark spectres, and silently ar- 
ranged themselves around him. Pointing in the direction he 
wished to proceed. Hawk-eye advanced, the band breaking ofi 
in single files, and following so accurately in his footsteps, as to 
leave it, if we except Heyward and David, the trail of but a 
single man. 

The party was, however, scarcely uncovered before a volley 
from a dozen rifles was heard in their rear ; and a Delaware 
leaping high into the air, like a wounded deer, fell at his whole 
length, perfectly dead. 

“ Ah ! I feared some devilry like this !” exclaimed the scout, 
in English ; adding, with the quickness of thought, in his 
adopted tongue, “ To cover, men, and charge !” 

The band dispersed at the word, and before Heyward had 
well recovered from his surprise, he found himself standing 
alone with David. Luckily, the Hurons had already falleu 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


417 


back, and he was safe from their fire. But this state of things 
was evidently to be of short continuance ; for the scout set the 
example of pressing on their retreat, by discharging his rifle, 
and darting from tree to tree, as his enemy slowly yielded 
ground. 

It would seem that the assault had been made by a very 
small party of the Hurons, which, however, continued to increase 
in numbers, as it retired on its friends, until the return fire was 
very nearly, if not quite, equal to that maintained by the 
advancing Delawares. Heyward threw himself among the 
combatants, and imitating the necessary caution of his compa- 
nions, he made quick discharges with his own rifle. The con- 
test now grew warm and stationary. Few were injured, as 
both parties kept their bodies as much protected as possible by 
the trees ; never, indeed, exposing any part of their persons 
except in the act of taking aim. But the chances were gradu- 
ally growing unfavourable to Hawk-eye and his band. The 
quick-sighted scout perceived his danger, without knowing how 
to remedy it. He saw it was more dangerous to retreat than 
to maintain his ground ; while he found his enemy throwing 
out men on his flank, which rendered the task of keeping 
themselves covered so very difficult to the Delawares, as nearly 
to silence their fire. At this embarrassing moment, when they 
began to think the whole of the hostile tribe was gradually 
encircling them, they heard the yell of combatants, and the 
rattling of arms, echoing under the arches of the wood, at the 
place where Uncas was posted ; a bottom which, in a manner, 
lay beneath the ground on which Hawk-eye and his party were 

contending. 

The eflfects of this attack were instantaneous, and to the scout 
and his friends greatly relieving. It would seem that, while 
his own surprise had been anticipated, and had consequently 
failed, the enemy, in their turn, having been deceived in its 
object and in his numbers, had left too small a force to resist 
the impetuous onset of the young Mohican. This fact was 
doubly apparent, by the rapid manner in which the battle in 
18 ^ 


418 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


the forest rolled upwards towards the village, and by an instant 
falling off in the number of their assailants, who rushed to 
assist in maintaining the front, and, as it now proved to be, the 
principal point of defence. 

Animating his followers by his voice, and his own example, 
Hawk-eye then gave the word to bear down upon their foes. 
The charge, in that rude species of warfare, consisted merely in 
pushing from cover to cover, nigher to the enemy ; and in this 
manoeuvre he was instantly and successfully obeyed. The 
Hurons were compelled to withdraw, and the scene of the com 
test rapidly changed from the more open ground on which 
it had commenced, to a spot where the assailed found a 
thicket to rest upon. Here the struggle was protracted, ardu- 
ous, and, seemingly, of doubtful issue ; the Delawares, though 
none of them fell, beginning to bleed freely, in consequence ot 
the disadvantage at which they were held 

In this ci’isis. Hawk-eye found mentis to get behind the same 
tree as that which served for a cover to Heyward ; most of his 
own combatants being within call, a little on his right, where 
they maintained rapid, though fruitless, discharges on their 
sheltered enemies. 

“ You are a young man, major,” said the scout, dropping the 
butt of “ Kill-deer” to the earth, and leaning on the barrel, a 
little fatigued with his previous industry ; “ and it may be your 
gift to lead armies, at some future day, ag’in these imps, the 
Mingoes. You may here see the philosophy of an Indian fight. 
It consists, mainly, in a ready hand, a quick eye, and a good 
cover. Now, if you had a company of the Royal Americans 
here, in what manner would you set them to work in this business ?” 

“ The bayonet would make a road.” 

“ Ay, there is white reason in what you say ; but a man must 
ask himself, in this wilderness, how many lives he can spare. 
No — horse,” continued the scout, shaking his head, like one 

* The American forest admits of the passage of horse, there being little under- 
brush. and few tangled brakes The plan of Hawk-eye is the one which has always 
proved the most successful in the battles between the whites and the Indians 




THE LAST OF THE MOHICAKS. 419 

who mused; “horse, I am ashamed to say, must, sooner or 
later, decide these skrimmages. The brutes are better than men, 
and to horse must we come at last. Put a shodden hoof on the 
moccasin of a red-skin ; and if his rille be once emptied, he will 
never stop to load it again.” 

“ This is a subject that might better be discussed another 
time,” returned Heyward ; “ shall we charge ?” 

“ I see no contradiction to the gifts of any man, in passing 
his breathing spells in useful reflections,” the scout replied. 
“ As to a rush I little relish such a measure ; for a scalp or two 
must be thrown away in the attempt. And yet,” he added, 
bending his head aside, to catch the sounds of the distant com- 
bat, “ if we are to be of use to Uncas, these knaves in our front 
must be got rid of!” 

Then turning, with a prompt and decided air, he called aloud 
to his Indians, in their own language. His words were 
answered by a shout ; and, at a given signal, each warrior made 
a swift movement around his particular tree. The sight of so 
many dark bodies, glancing before their eyes at the same 
instant, drew a hasty, and consequently an ineffectual, fire from 
the Hurons. Without stopping to breathe, the Delawares 
leaped, in long bounds, towards the wood, like so many pan- 
thers springing upon their prey. Hawk-eye w^as in front, 
brandishing his terrible rifle, and animating his follo^vers by his 
example. A few of the older and more cunning Hurons, who 
had not been deceived by the artifice which had been practised 
to draw their fire, now made a close and deadly discharge of 
their pieces, and justified the apprehensions of the scout, by 
feilino- three of his foremost warriors. But the shock was insuf- 

O 

ficient to repel the impetus of the charge. The Delawares 


Wayne, in his celebrated campaign on the Miami, received the fire of his enemies 
in line ; and then causing his dragoons to wheel round his flanks, the Indians were 
driven from their covers before they had time to load. One of the most conspicuous 
of the chiefs who fought in the battle of Miami assured the writer, that the red men 
could not fight the warriors with “long knives and leather-stockings meaning the 
dragoons with their sabres aud boots. 


420 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


broke into the cover with the ferocity of their natures, and swept 
away every trace of resistance by the fury of the onset. 

The combat endured only for an instant, liand to hand, and 
then the assailed yielded ground rapidly, until they reached the 
opposite margin of the thicket, where they clung to the cover, 
with the sort of obstinacy that is so often witnessed in hunted 
brutes. At this critical moment, when the success of the struggle 
was again becoming doubtful, the crack of a rifle was heard 
behind the Hurons, and a bullet came whizzing from among 
some beaver lodges, which were situated in the clearing, in their 
rear, and was follow^ed by the fierce and appalling yell of the 
war-whoop. 

“ There speaks the Sagamore !” shouted Hawk-eye, answering 
the cry with his own stentorian voice ; “ we have them now in 
face and back !” 

The effect on the Hurons was instantaneous. Discouraged by 
an assault from a quarter that left them no opportunity for 
cover, their warriors uttered a common yell of disappointment, 
and breaking off in a body, they spread themselves across the 
opening, heedless of every consideration but flight. Many fell, 
in making the experiment, under the bullets and the blows of 
the pursuing Delawares. 

We shall not pause to detail the meeting between the scout 
and Chingachgook, or the more touching interview that Duncan 
held with Munro. A few brief and hurried words served to 
explain the state of things to both parties ; and then Hawk-eye 
pointing out the Sagamore to his band, resigned the chief 
authority into the hands of the Mohican chief. Chingachgook 
assumed the station to which his birth and experience gave him 
so distinguished a claim, with the grave dignity that always 
gives force to the mandates of a native warrior. Following the 
footsteps of the scout, he led the party back through the thicket, 
his men scalping the fallen Hurons, and secreting the bodies of 
their own dead as they proceeded, until they gained a point 
where the former was content to make a halt. 

The warriors, who had breathed tlieraselves freely in the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


421 


preceding struggle, were now posted on a bit of level ground, 
sprinkled with trees in sufficient numbers to conceal them. The 
land fell away rather precipitately in front, and beneath their 
eyes stretched, for several miles, a narrow, dark, and wooded 
vale. It was through this dense and dark forest that Uncas 
was still contending with the main body of the Hurons. 

The Mohican and his friends advanced to the brow of the 
hill, and listened, with practised ears, to the sounds of the com- 
bat. A few birds hovered over the leafy bosom of the valley, 
frightened from their secluded nests ; and here and there a light 
vapory cloud, which seemed already blending with the atmo- 
sphere, arose above the trees, and indicated some spot where the 
struggle had been fierce and stationary. 

“The fight is coming up the ascent,” said Duncan, pointing in 
the direction of a new explosion of fire-arms ; “ we are too much 
in the centre of their line to be effective.” 

“They will incline into the hollow, where the cover is thicker,” 
said the scout, “ and that will leave us well on their flank. Go, 
Sagamore ; you will hardly be in time to give the whoop, and 
lead on the young men. I will fight this skrimmage with war- 
riors of my own color. You know me, Mohican ; rtot a Huron 
of them all shall cross the swell, into your rear, without the 
notice of ‘ Kill-deer.’ ” 

The Indian chief paused another moment to consider the 
signs of the contest, which was now rolling rapidly up the ascent, 
a certain evidence that the Delawares triumphed ; nor did he 
actually quit the place until admonished of the proximity of his 
friends, as well as enemies, by the bullets of the former, which 
began to patter among the dried leaves on the ground, like the 
bits of falling hail which precede the bursting of the tempest. 
Hawk-eye and his three companions withdrew a few paces to a 
shelter, and awaited the issue with calmness, that nothing but 
great practice could impart in such a scene. 

It was not long before the reports of the rifles began to lose 
the echoes of the woods, and to sound like weapons discharged 
iu tho open air. Then a warrior appeared, here and there, 


422 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Iriven to the sldrts of the forest, and rallying as he entered the 
clearing, as at the place where the final stand was to be made. 
These were soon joined by others, until a long line of swarthy 
figures was to be seen clinging to the cover with the obstinacy 
of desperation. Heyward began to grow impatient, and turned 
his eyes anxiously in the direction of Chingachgook. The chief 
was seated on a rock, with nothing visible but his calm visage, 
considering the spectacle with an eye as deliberate as if he were 
posted there merely to view the struggle. 

“ The time is come for the Delaware to strike !” said 
Duncan. 

“ Not so, not so,’’ returned the scout ; “ when he scents his 
friends, he will let them know that he is here. See, see ; the 
knaves are getting in that clump of pines, like bees settling 
after their flight. By the Lord, a squaw might put a bullet 
into the centre of such a knot of dark skins !” 

At that instant the whoop was given, and a dozen Hurons 
fell by a discharge from Chingachgook and his band. The 
shout that followed was answered by a single war-cry from the 
forest, and a yell passed through the air that sounded as if a 
thousand throats were united in a common effort. The Hurons 
staggered, deserting the centre of their line, and Uncas issued 
from the forest through the opening they left, at the head of a 
hundred warriors. 

Waving his hands right and left, the young chief pointed out 
the enemy to his followers, who separated in pursuit. The war 
now divided, both wings of the broken Hurons seeking pro- 
tection in the woods again, hotly pressed by the victorious 
warriors of the Lenape. A minute might have passed, but the 
sounds were already receding in different directions, and 
gradually losing their distinctness beneath the echoing arches 
of the woods. One little knot of Hurons, however, had dis- 
dained to seek a cover, and were retiring, like lions at bay, 
slowly and sullenly up the acclivity, which Chingachgook and 
his band had just deserted, to mingle more closely in the fray. 
Magua was conspicuous in this party, both by his fierce and 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


423 


savage mien, and by the air of haughty authority he yet 
maintained. 

In his eagerness to expedite the pursuit, Uncas had left 
himself nearly alone ; but the moment his eye caught the 
figure of Le Subtil, every other consideration was forgotten. 
Raising his cry of battle, which recalled some six or seven 
warriors, and reckless of the disparity of their numbers, he 
rushed upon his enemy. Le Renard, who watched the move- 
ment, paused to receive him with secret joy. But at the 
moment when he thought the rashness of his impetuous young 
assailant had left him at his mercy, another shout was given, 
and La longue Carabine was seen rushing to the rescue, 
attended by all his white associates. The Huron instantly 
turned, and commenced a rapid retreat up the ascent. 

There was no time for greetings or congratulations ; for 
Uncas, though unconscious of the presence of his friends, con- 
tinued the pursuit with the velocity of the wind. In vain 
Hawk-eye called to him to respect the covers; the young 
Mohican braved the dangerous fire of his enemies, and soon 
compelled them to a flight as swift as his own headlong speed. 
It was fortunate that the race was of short continuance, and 
that the white men were much favored by their position, or the 
Delaware would soon have outstripped all his companions, and 
fallen a victim to his own temerity. But ere such a calamity 
could happen, the pursuers and pursued entered the Wyandot 
village, within striking distance of each other. 

Excited by the presence of their dwellings, and tired of the 
chase, the Hurons now made a stand, and fought around their 
council lodge with the fury of despair. The onset and the 
issue were like the passage' and destruction of a whirlwind. 
The tomahawk of Uncas, the blows of Hawk-eye, and even the 
still nervous arm of Munro, were all busy for that passing 
moment, and the ground was quickly strewed with their 
enemies. Still Magua, though daring and much exposed, 
escaped from every effort against his life, with that sort of 
fabled protection that was made to overlook the fortunes of 


424 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


favored heroes in the legends of ancient poetry. Raising a yell 
that spoke volumes of anger and disappointment, the subtle 
chief, when he saw his comrades fallen, darted away from the 
place, attended by his two only surviving friends, leaving the 
Delawares engaged in stripping the dead of the bloody trophies 
of their victory. 

But Uncas, who had vainly sought him in the m^l6e, bounded 
forward in pursuit ; Hawk-eye, Heyward, and David still press- 
ing on his footsteps. The utmost that the scout could effect, 
was to keep the muzzle of his rifle a little in advance of his 
friend, to whom, however, it answered every purpose of a 
charmed shield. Once Magua appeared disposed to make 
another and a final effort to revenge his losses ; but, abandoning 
his intention as soon as demonstrated, he leaped into a thicket 
of bushes, through which he was followed by his enemies, and 
suddenly entered the mouth of the cave already known to the 
reader. Hawk-eye, who had only forborne to fire in tenderness 
to Uncas, raised a shout of success, and proclaimed aloud, that 
now they were certain of their game. The pursuei*s dashed 
into the long and narrow entrance, in time to catch a glimpse 
of the retreating forms of the Hurons. Their passage through 
the natural galleries and subterraneous apartments of the 
cavern was preceded by the shrieks and cries of hundreds of 
women and children. The place, seen by its dim and uncertain 
light, appeared like the shades of the infernal regions, across 
which unhappy ghosts and savage demons were flitting in mul- 
titudes. 

Still Uncas kept his eye on Magua, as if life to him possessed 
but a single object. Heyward and the scout still pressed on 
his rear, actuated, though possibly in a less degree, by a com- 
mon feeling. But their way was becoming intricate, in those 
dark and gloomy passages, and the glimpses of the retiring war- 
riors less distinct and frequent ; and for a moment the trace 
was believed to be lost, when a white robe was seen fluttering 
in the further extremity of a passage that seemed to lead up 
the mountain. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


425 


“ ’Tis Cora !” exclaimed Heyward, in a voice in which horror 
and delight were wildly mingled. 

“Cora ! Cora !” echoed Uncas, bending forward like a deer. 

“ ’Tis the maiden !” shouted the scout. “ Courage, lady ; 
we come ! — we come !” 

The chase was renewed with a diligence rendered tenfold 
encouraging by this glimpse of the captive. But the way was 
rugged, broken, and in spots nearly impassable. Uncas aban- 
doned his rifle, and leaped forward with headlong precipitation. 
Heyward rashly imitated his example, though both were, a 
moment afterwards, admonished of its madness, by hearing the 
bellowing of a piece, that the Hurons found time to discharge 
down the passage in the rocks, the bullet from which even 
gave the young Mohican a slight wound. 

“ We must close !” said the scout, passing his friends by a 
desperate leap ; “ the knaves will pick us all off at this distance ; 
and see, they hold the maiden so as to shield themselves !” 

Though his words were unheeded, or rather unheard, his 
example was followed by his companions, who, by incredible 
exertions, got near enough to the fugitives to perceive that Cora 
was borne along between the two warriors, while Magua pre- 
scribed the direction and manner of their flight. At this mo- 
ment the forms of all four were strongly drawn against an 
opening in the sky, and they disappeared. Nearly frantic with 
disappointment, Uncas and Heyward increased efforts that 
already seemed supei-human, and they issued from the cavern 
on the side of the mountain, in time to note the route of the 
pursued. The course lay up the ascent, and still continued 
hazardous and laborious. 

Encumbered by his rifle, and, perhaps, not sustained by so 
deep an interest in the captive as his companions, the scout 
suffered the latter to precede him a little, Uncas, in his turn, 
taking the lead of Heyward. In this manner, rocks, precipices, 
and difficulties were surmounted in an incredibly short space, 
that at another time, and under other circumstances, would have 
deemed almost insuperable. But the impetuous young 


426 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


men were rewarded, by finding that, encumbered with Cora, the 
Hurons were losing ground in the race. 

“Stay, dog of the Wyandots!” exclaimed Uncas, shaking his 
bright tomahawk at Magua ; “ a Delaware girl calls stay !” 

“I will go no further,” cried Cora, stopping unexpectedly on 
a ledge of rocks, that overhung a deep precipice, at no great 
distance from the summit of the mountain. “ Kill me if thou 
wilt, detestable Huron ; I will go no further.” 

The supporters of the maiden raised their ready tomahawks 
with the impious joy that fiends are thought to take in mischief, 
but Magua stayed the uplifted arms. The Huron chief, after 
casting the weapons he had wrested from his companions over 
the rock, drew his knife, and turned to his captive, with a look 
in which conflicting passions fiercely contended. 

Woman,” he said, “ choose ; the wigwam or the knife of Le 
Subtil!” 

Cora regarded him not, but dropping on her knees, sho 
raised her eyes and stretched her arms towards heaven, saying, 
in a meek and yet confiding voice, — 

“ I am thine ! do with me as thou seest best !” 

“ Woman,” repeated Magua, hoarsely, and endeavoring 
in vain to catch a glance from her serene and beaming eye, 
“choose!” 

But Cora neither heard nor heeded his demand. The form 
of the Huron trembled in every fibre, and he raised his arm on 
high, but dropped it again with a bewildered air, like one who 
doubted. Once more he struggled with himself and lifted the 
keen weapon again — but just then a piercing cry was heard 
above them, and Uncas appeared, leaping frantically, from a 
fearful height, upon the ledge. Magua recoiled a step ; and one 
of his assistants, profiting by the chance, sheathed his own knife 
in the bosom of Cora. 

The Huron sprang like a tiger on his offending and already 
retreating countryman, but the falling form of Uncas separated 
the unnatural combatants. Diverted from his object by this 
bitr^vruption, and maddened by the murder he had just wu 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


427 


nessed, Magua buried his weapon in the back of the prostrate 
Delaware, uttering an unearthly shout as he committed the 
dastardly deed. But Uncas arose from the blow, as the wounded 
panther turns upon his foe, and struck the murderer of Cora to 
his feet, by an effort in which the last of his failing strength was 
expended. Then, with a stern and steady look, he turned to 
Le Subtil, and indicated, by the expression of his eye, all that 
he would do, had not the power deserted him. The latter seized 
the nerveless arm of the unresisting Delaware, and passed his knife 
into his bosom three several times, before his victim, still keeping 
his gaze riveted on his enemy with a look of inextinguishable 
scorn, fell dead at his feet. 

“ Mercy ! mercy ! Huron,” cried Heyward, fi’om above, in 
tones nearly choked by horror ; “ give mercy, and thou shalt 
receive it !” 

Whirling the bloody knife up at the imploring youth, the 
victorious Magua uttered a cry so fierce, so wild, and yet so 
joyous, that it conveyed the sounds of savage triumph to the 
ears of those who fought in the valley, a thousand feet below. 
He was answered by a burst from the lips of the scout, whose 
tall person was just then seen moving swiftly towards him, along 
those dangerous crags, with steps as bold and reckless as if he 
possessed the power to move in air. But when the hunter 
reached the scene of the I’uthless massacre, the ledge wea 
tenanted only by the dead. 

His keen eye took a single look at the victims, and then sho- 
its glances over the difficulties of the ascent in his front. A 
form stood at the brow of the mountain, on the very edge of 
the giddy height, with uplifted arms, in an awful attitude of 
menace. Without stopping to consider his person, the rifle of 
Hawk-eye was raised ; but a rock, which fell on the head of 
one of the fugitives below, exposed the indignant and glowing 
countenance of the honest Gamut. Then Magua issued from a 
crevice, and stepping with calm indifference over the body of 
the last of his associates, he leaped a wide fissure, and ascended 
Uie rocks at a point where the arm of David could not reach 


428 


THE T, AST OF THE MOHICANS- 


him. A single bound would carry him to the brow of the 
precipice, and assure his safety. Before taking the leap, how- 
ever, the Huron paused, and shaking his hand at the scout, ho 
shouted — 

“ The pale-faces are dogs ! the Delawares women ! Magua 
leaves them on the rocks, for the crows !” 

Laughing hoarsely, he made a desperate leap, and fell short 
of his mark ; though his hands grasped a shrub on the verge 
of the height. The form of Hawk-eye had crouched like a 
beast about to take its spring, and his frame trembled so 
violently with eagerness, that the muzzle of the half-raised rifle 
played like a leaf fluttering in the wind. Without exhausting 
himself with fruitless efforts, the cunning Magua suffered his 
body to drop to the length of his arms, and found a fragment 
for his feet to rest on. Then summoning all his powers, he 
renewed the attempt, and so far succeeded, as to draw his 
knees on the edge of the mountain. It was now, when the 
body of his enemy was most collected together, that the 
agitated weapon of the scout was drawn to his shoulder. The 
surrounding rocks, themselves, were not steadier than the piece 
became, for the single instant that it poured out its contents. 
The arms of the Huron relaxed, and his body fell back a little, 
while his knees still kept their position. Turning a relentless 
look on his enemy, he shook a hand in grim defiance. But 
his hold loosened, and his dark person was seen cutting the air 
with its head downwards, for a fleeting instant, until it glided 
past the fringe of shrubbery which clung to the mountain, iij 
its rapid flight to destruction. 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


429 


CHAPTER XXXIII. 

They fought — like brave men, long and well, 

They piled that ground with Moslem slain, 

They conquered — but Bozzaris fell, 

Bleeding at every vein. 

His few surviving comrades saw 

His smile when rang their proud hr— vh, 

And the red field was won ; 

Then saw in death his eyelids . «,*• 

Calmly, as to a night’s reposf 
Like flowers at set of sun, 

IIali,eck. 

The sun found the Lenape, on the succeeding day, a nation 
of mourners. The sounds of the battle were over, and they had 
fed fat their ancient grudge, and had avenged their recent 
buarrel with the Mengwe, by the destruction of a whole com- 
munity. The black and murky atmosphere that floated around 
the spot where the Hurons had encamped, sufficiently announced, 
of itself, the fate of that wandering tribe ; while hundreds of 
ravens, that struggled above the bleak summits of the moun- 
tains, or swept, in noisy flocks, across the wide ranges of the 
woods, furnished a frightful direction to the scene of the combat. 
In short, any eye, at all practised in the signs of a frontier war- 
fare, might easily have traced all those unerring evidences of the 
ruthless results which attend an Indian vengeance. 

Still, the sun rose on the Lenape a nation of mourners. No 
shouts of success, no songs of triumph, were heard, in rejoicings 
for their victory. The latest straggler had eturned from his 
fell employment, only to strip himself of the terrific emblems of 
his bloody calling, and to join in the lamentations of his country- 
men, as a stricken people. Pride and exultation were supplant- 
ed by humility, and the fiercest of human nassions was uh’eady 


430 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


succeeded by the most profound and unequivocal demonstrations 
of grief. 

The lodges were deserted ; but a broad belt of earnest fiices 
encircled a spot in their vicinity, whither everything possessing 
life had repaired, and where all were now collected, in deep and 
awful silence. Though beings of every rank and age, of both 
sexes, and of all pursuits, had united to form this breathing wall 
of bodies, they were influenced by a single emotion. Each eye 
was riveted on the centre of that ring, which contained tUo 
objects of so much, and of so common, an interest. 

Six Delaware girls, with their long, dark, flowing tresses fall- 
ing loosely across their bosoms, stood apart, and only gave 
proofs of their existence as they occasionally strewed sweet- 
scented herbs and forest flowers on a litter of fragrant plants, 
that, under a pall of Indian robes, supported all that now 
remained of the ardent, high-souled, and generous Cora. 
Her form was concealed in many wrappers of the same 
nple manufacture, and her face was shut for ever from 
the gaze of men. At her feet was seated the desolate 
Munro. His aged head was bowed nearly to the earth, in 
compelled submission to the stroke of Providence ; but a 
hidden anguish struggled about his furrowed brow, that was 
only partially concealed by the careless locks of grey that had 
‘alien, neglected, on his temples. Gamut stood at his side, his 
neek head bared to the rays of the sun, while his eyes, wander- 
ig and concerned, seemed to be equally divided between that 
ttle volume, which contained so many quaint but holy maxims, 
id the being in whose behalf his soul yearned to administer 
insolation. Heyward was also nigh, supporting himself against 
A tree, and endeavoring to keep down those sudden rising-s of 
sorrow that it required his utmost manhood to subdue. 

But sad and melancholy as this group may easily be imagined, 
it was far less touching than another, that occupied the opposite 
space of the same area. Seated, as in life, with his form and 
limbs arranged in grave and decent composure, Uncas appeared, 
arrayed in the most gorgeous ornaments that the wealth of the 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


431 


tribe could furnish. Rich plumes nodded above his head; 
wampum, gorgets, bracelets, and medals, adorned his person in 
profusion ; though his dull eye and vacant lineaments too 
strongly contradicted the idle tale of pride they would convey. 

Directly in front of the corpse Chingachgook was placed, with- 
out arms, paint, or adornment" of any sort, except the bright 
blue blazonry of his race, that was indelibly impressed on his 
naked bosom. During the long period that the tribe had been 
thus collected, the Mohican warrior had kept a steady, anxious 
look on the cold and senseless countenance of his son. So 
riveted and intense had been that gaze, and so changeless his 
attitude, that a stranger might not have told the living from the 
dead, but for the occasional gleamings of a troubled spirit, that 
shot athwart the dark visage of one, and the death-like calm 
that had for ever settled on the lineaments of the other. 

The scout w^as hard by, leaning in a pensive posture on his 
own fatal and avenging weapon ; wdiile Tamenund, supported by 
the elders of his nation, occupied a high place at hand, whence 
he might look down on the mute and sorrowful assemblage of 
his people. 

Just within the inner edge of the circle stood a soldier, in the 
military attire of a strange nation ; and without it was his war- 
horse, in the centre of a collection of mounted domestics, seem- 
ingly in readiness to undertake some distant journey. The 
vestments of the stranger announced him to be one who held a. 
responsible situation near the person of the Captain of the 
Canadas ; and who, as it would now seem, finding his errand of 
peace frustrated by the fierce impetuosity of his allies, was con- 
tent to become a silent and sad spectator of the fruits of a con- 
test that he had arrived too late to anticipate. 

The day was drawing to the close of its first quarter, and yet 
had the multitude maintained its breathing stillness since its 
dawn. No sound louder than a stifled sob had been heard 
among them, nor had even a limb been moved throughout that 
long and painful period, except to perform the simple and touch- 
ing offerings that were made, from time to time, in commemora- 


432 


T H E LAS T OF 'J' II E MOHICANS. 


tion of the dead. Tlie patience and forbearance of Indian for* 
titude could alone support such an appearance of abstraction, as 
seemed now to have turned each dark and motionless figure into 
stone. 

At length, the sage of the Delawares stretched forth an arm, 
and leaning on the shoulders of his attendants, he arose with an 
air as feeble as if another age had already intervened between 
the man who had met his nation the preceding day, and him 
who now tottered on his elevated stand. 

“ Men of the Lenape !” he said, in hollow tones, that sounded 
like a voice charged wdth some prophetic mission ; “ the face of 
the Manitto is behind a cloud ! his eye is turned from you ; his 
ears are shut ; his tongue gives no answer. You see him not ; 
yet his judgments are before you. Let your hearts be open, 
and your spirits tell no lie. Men of the Lenape ! the face of 
the Manitto is behind a cloud.” 

As this simple and yet terrible annunciation stole on the ears 
of the multitude, a stillness as deep and awful succeeded, as if 
the venerated spirit they worshipped had uttered the words 
without the aid of human organs; and even the inanimate 
Uncas appeared a being of life, compared with the humbled 
and subipissive throng by whom he was surrounded. As the 
immediate effect, however, gradually passed away, a low murmur 
of voices commenced a sort of chant in honor of the dead. The 
sounds were those of females, and were thrillingly soft and 
wailing. The words were connected by no regular continuation, 
but as one ceased another took up the eulogy, or lamentation, 
whichever it might be called, and gave vent to her emotions in 
such language as was suggested by her feelings and the occa- 
sion. At intervals the speaker was interrupted by general and 
loud bursts of sorrow, during which the girls around the bier of 
Cora plucked the plants and flowers blindly from her body, as if 
bewildered with grief. But, in the milder moments of their 
])laint, these emblems of purity and sweetness were cast back to 
their places, with every sign of tenderness and regret. Though 
rendered less connected by many and general interruptions and 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


433 


outbreakings, a translation of their language would have con- 
tained a regular descant, which, in substance, might have proved 
to possess a train of consecutive ideas. 

A girl, selected for the task by her rank and qualifications, 
commenced by modest allusions to the^ qualities of the deceased 
warrior, embellishing her expressions with those oriental images 
that the Indians have probably brought with them from the 
extremes of the other continent, and which form of themselves a 
link to connect the ancient histories of the two worlds. She 
called him the “ panther of his tribe and described him as 
one whose moccasin left no trail on the dews; whose bound 
was like the leap of the young fawn ; whose eye was brighter 
than .a star in the dark night; and whose voice, in battle, was 
loud as the thunder of the Manitto. She reminded him of the 
mother who bore him, and dwelt forcibly on the happiness she 
must feel in possessing such a son. She bade him tell her, 
when they met in the world of spirits, that the Delaware girls 
had shed tears above the grave of her child, and had called her 
blessed. 

Then, they who succeeded, changing their tones to a milder 
and still more tender strain, alluded, with the delicacy and 
sensitiveness of women, to the stranger maiden, who had left 
the upper eaith at a time so near his own departure, as to 
render the will of the Great Spirit too manifest to be disregarded. 
They admonished him to be kind to her, and to have considera- 
tion for her ignorance of those arts which were so necessary to 
the comfort of a warrior like himself. They dwelt upon her 
matchless beauty, and on her noble resolution, without the taint 
of envy, and as angels may be thought to delight in a superior 
excellence ; adding, that these endowments should prove more 
than equivalent for any little imperfections in her education. 

After which, others again, in due succession, spoke to the 
maiden herself, in the low, soft language of tenderness and love. 
They exhorted her to be of cheeiful mind, and to fear nothing 
for her future welfare. A hunter would be her companion, who 
knew how to provide for her smallest wants ; and a warrior was 

19 


434 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


at her side who was able to protect her against every danger. 
They promised that her path should be pleasant, and her burden 
light. They cautioned her against unavailing regrets for the 
friends of her youth, and the scenes where her fathers had 
dwelt ; assuring her that* the “ blessed hunting grounds of the 
Lenape” contained vales as pleasant, streams as pure, and 
flowers as sweet, as the “Heaven of the pale-faces.” They 
advised her to be attentive to the wants of her companion, and 
never to forget the distinction which the Manitto had so wisely 
established between them. Then, in a wild burst of their chant, 
they sang with united voices the temper of the Mohican’s mind. 
They pronounced him noble, manly, and generous; all that 
became a warrior, and all that a maid might love. Clothing 
their ideas in the most remote and subtle images, they betrayed, 
that, in the short period of their intercourse, they had discovered, 
with the intuitive perception of their sex, the truant disposition 
of his inclinations. The Delaware girls had found no favor in 
his eyes ! He was of a race that had once been lords on the 
shores of the salt lake, and his wishes had led him back to a 
people who dwelt about the graves of his fathers. Why should 
not such a predilection be encouraged ! That she was of a 
blood purer and richer than the rest of her nation, any eye 
might have seen : that she was equal to the dangers and daring 
of a life in the woods, her conduct had proved ; and now, they 
added, the “wise one of the earth” had transplanted her to a 
place where she would find congenial spirits, and might be for 
ever happy. 

Then, with another transition in voice and subject, allusions 
were made to the virgin who wept in the adjacent lodge. They 
compared her to flakes of snow ; as pure, as white, as brilliant, 
and as liable to melt in the fierce heats of summer, or congeal 
in the frosts of winter. They doubted not that she was lovely 
in the eyes of the young chief, whose skin and whose sorrow 
seemed so like her own ; but, though far from expressing such a 
preference, it was evident they deemed her less excellent than 
the maid they mourned. Still they denied her no meed her 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


435 


rare charms might properly claim. Her ringlets were compared 
to the exuberant tendrils of the vine, her eye to the blue vault 
of the heavens, and the most spotless cloud, with its glowing 
flush of the sun, was admitted to be less attractive than her 
bloom. 

During these and similar songs nothing was audible but the 
murmurs of the music ; relieved, as it was, or rather rendered 
terrible, by those occasional bursts of grief which might be called 
its choruses. The Delawares themselves listened like charmed 
men ; and it was very apparent, by the variations of their 
speaking countenances, how deep and true was their sympathy. 
Even David was not reluctant to lend his ears to the tones of 
voices so sweet ; and long ere the chant was ended, his gaze 
announced that his soul was enthralled. 

The scout, to whom alone, of all the white men, the words 
were intelligible, suffered himself to be a little aroused from his 
meditative posture, and bent his face aside, to catch their mean- 
ing, as the girls proceeded. But when they spoke of the future 
prospects of Cora and Uncas, he shook his head, like one who 
knew the error of their simple creed, and resuming his reclining 
attitude, he maintained it until the ceremony — if that might be 
called a ceremony, in which feeling was so deeply imbued — was 
finished. Happily for the self-command of both Heyward and 
Munro, they knew not the meaning of the wild sounds they 
heard. 

Chingachgook was a solitary exception to the interest mani- 
fested by the native part of the audience. His look never 
changed throughout the whole of the scene, nor did a muscle 
move in his rigid countenance, even at the wildest or the most 
pathetic parts of the lamentation. The cold and senseless re- 
mains of his son was all to him, and every other sense but that 
of sight seemed frozen, in order that his eyes might take their 
final gaze at those lineaments he had so long loved, and which 
were now about to be closed for ever from his view. 

In this stage of the funeral obsequies, a warrior much re- 
nowned for deeds in arms, and more especially for services in 


430 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


the recent combat, a man of stern and grave demeanor, advanceo 
slowly from the crowd, and placed himself nigh the person of 
the dead. 

“Why hast thou left us, pride of the Wapanachki he said, 
addressing himself to the dull ears of Uncas, as if the empty 
clay retained the faculties of the animated man ; “ thy time has 
been like that of the sun when in the trees ; thy glory brighter 
than his light at noon-day. Thou art gone, youthful warrior, 
but a hundred Wyandots are clearing the briers from thy path 
to the world of spirits. Who that saw thee in battle w'ould 
believe that thou couldst die? Who before thee has ever 
shown Uttawa the way into the fight ? Thy feet were like the 
wings of eagles ; thine arm heavier than falling branches from 
the pine ; and thy voice like the Manitto when he speaks in the 
clouds. The tongue of Uttawa is weak,” he added, looking 
about him with a melancholy gaze, “ and his heart exceeding 
heavy. Pride of the Wapanachki, why hast thou left us 

He was succeeded by others, in due order, until most of the 
high and gifted men of the nation had sung or spoken their 
tribute of praise over the manes of the deceased chief. When 
each had ended, another deep and breathing silence reigneel in 
all the place. 

Then a low, deep sound was heard, like the suppressed ac- 
companiment of distant music, rising just high enough on the 
air to be audible, and yet so indistinctly, as to leave its character, 
and the place whence it proceeded, alike matters of conjecture. 
It was, however, succeeded by another and another strain, each 
in a higher key, until they grew on the ear, first in long drawn 
and often repeated interjections, and finally in words. The lips 
of Chingachgook had so far parted, as to announce that it was 
the monody of the father. Though not an eye was turned 
towards him, nor the smallest sign of impatience exhibited, it 
was apparent, by the manner in which the multitude elevated 
their heads to listen, that they drank in the sounds with an 
intenseness of attention, that none but Tuinenund him^i'lf had 
ever before commanded. But they listened in vain. The straiin 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


437 


rose just so loud as to become intelligible, and then grew fainter 
and more trembling, until they finally sank on the ear, as if 
borne away by a passing breath of wind. The lips of the Saga- 
more closed, and he remained silent in his seat, looking, with his 
riveted eye and motionless form, like some creature that had 
been turned from the Almighty hand with the form but without 
the spirit of a man. The Delawares, who knew by these symp- 
tons that the mind of their friend was not prepared for so mighty 
an effort of fortitude, relaxed in their attention ; and, with ah 
innate delicacy, seemed to bestow all their thoughts on the 
obsequies of the stranger maiden. 

A signal w^as given, by one of the elder chiefs, to the women, 
who crowded that part of the circle near which the body of 
Cora lay. Obedient to the sign, the girls raised the bier to the 
elevation of their heads, and advanced with slow and regulated 
steps, chanting, as they proceeded, another wailing song in 
praise of the deceased. Gamut, who had been a close observer 
of rites he deemed so heathenish, now bent his head over the 
shoulder of the unconscious father, whispering — 

“They move with the remains of thy child; shall we not fol- 
low, and see them interred with Christian burial ?” 

Munro started, as if the last trumpet had sounded in his ear, 
and bestowing one anxious and hurried glance around him, he 
arose and follow^ed in the simple train, with the mien of a soldier, 
but bearing the full burden of a parent’s suftering. His friends 
pressed around him with a sorrow that was too strong to be 
termed sympathy — even the young Frenchman joining in the 
procession, with the air of a man who was sensibly touched at 
the early and melancholy fate of one so lovely. But when the 
last and humblest female of the tribe had joined in the wild, 
and yet ordered array, the men of the Lenape contracted their 
circle, and formed again around the person of Uncas, as silent^ 
as ffrave, and as motionless as before. 

The place which had been chosen for the grave of Cora was a 
little knoll, where a cluster of young and healthful pines had 
taken root, forming of themselves a melancholy and appropriate 


438 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


shade over the spot. On reaching it the girls deposited theii 
burden, and continued for many minutes waiting, with charac- 
teristic patience, and native timidity, for some evidence that 
they whose feelings were most concerned were content with the 
arrangement. At length the scout, who alone understood their 
habits, said, in their own language — 

My daughters have done well ; the white men thank them.” 

Satisfied wfith this testimony in their favor, the girls proceeded 
to deposit the body in a shell, ingeniously, and not inelegantly, 
fabricated of the bark of the birch ; after which they lowered it 
into its dark and final abode. The ceremony of co^^’ering the 
remains, and concealing the marks of the fresh earth, by leaves 
and other natural and customary objects, was conducted with 
the same simple and silent forms. But when tlie labors of the 
kind beings who had performed these sad and friendly offices 
were so far completed, they hesitated, in a way to show that 
they knew not how much further they might proceed. It was 
in this stage of the rites that the scout again addressed them. — 

“ My young women have done enough,” he said ; “ the spirit 
of a pale-face has no need of food or raiment — their gifts being 
according to the heaven of their color. I see,” he added, 
glancing an eye at David, who was preparing his book in a 
manner that indicated an intention to lead the way in sacred 
song, “that one who better knows the Christian fashions is 
about to speak.” 

The females stood modestly aside, and, from having been the 
principal actors in the scene, they now became the meek and 
attentive observers of that which followed. During the time 
David was occupied in pouring out the pious feelings of his 
spirit in this manner, not a sign of surprise, nor a look of 
impatience, escaped them. They listened like those who knew 
the meaning of the strange words, and appeared as if they felt 
the mingled emotions of sorrow, hope, and resignation, they 
were intended to convey. 

Excited by the scene he had just witnessed, and perhaps 
influenced by his own secret emotions, the master of song 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


430 


exceeded liis usual efforts. His full, rich voice was not found 
to suffer by a comparison with the soft tones of the girls ; and 
bis more modulated strains possessed, at least for the ears of 
those to whom they were peculiarly addressed, the additional 
power of intelligence. He ended the anthem, as he had com- 
menced it, in the midst of a grave and solemn stillness. 

When, however, the closing cadence had fallen on the ears 
of his auditors, the secret, timorous glances of the eyes, and the 
general, and yet subdued movement of the assemblage, betrayed 
that something was expected from the father of the deceased. 
Munro s^med sensible that the time was come for him to 
exert what is, perhaps, the greatest effort of which human 
nature is capable. He bared his grey locks, and looked around 
the timid and quiet throng by which he was encircled with a 
firm and collected countenance. Then motioning with his 
hand for the scout to listen, he said — 

“ Say to these kind and gentle females, that a heartbroken 
and failing man returns them his thanks. Tell them, that the 
Being we all worship, under different names, will be mindful of 
their charity ; and that the time shall not be distant when we 
may assemble around his throne without distinction of sex, or 
rank, or color.” 

The scout listened to the tremulous voice in which the 
veteran delivered these words, and shook his head slowly when 
they were ended, as one who doubted their efficacy. 

“ To tell them this,” he said, “ would be to tell them that the 
snows come not in the winter, or that the sun shines fiercest 
when the trees are stripped of their leaves.” 

Then turning to the women, he made such a communication 
of the other’s gratitude as he deemed most suited to the capa- 
cities of his listeners. The head of Munro had already sunk 
upon his chest, and he was again fast relapsing into melancholy, 
when the young Frenchman before named ventured to touch 
him lightly on the elbow. As soon as he had gained the attention 
of the mourning old man, he pointed towards a group of young 


440 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


Indians, who approached with a light but closely covered litter, 
and then pointed upwards towards the sun. 

“ 1 understand you, sir,” returned Munro, with a voice of 
forced firmness ; “ I understand you. It is the will of Heaven, 
and I submit. Cora, my child ! if the prayers of a heart- 
broken father could avail thee now, how blessed shouldst thou 
be ! Come, gentlemen,” he added, looking about him with an 
air of lofty composure, though the anguish that quivered in his 
faded countenance was far too powerful to be concealed, “ our 
duty here is ended ; let us depart.” 

Heyward gladly obeyed a summons that took them from a 
spot where, each instant, he felt his self-control was about to 
desert him. While his companions were mounting, however, 
he found time to press the hand of the scout, and to repeat the 
terms of an engagement they had made, to meet again within 
the posts of the British army. Then gladly throwing himself 
into the saddle, he spurred his charger to the side of the litter, 
whence low and stifled sobs alone announced the presence of 
Alice. In this manner, the head of Munro again dropping on 
his bosom, with Heyward and David following in sorrowing 
silence, and attended by the aide of Montcalm with his guard, 
all the white men, with the exception of Hawk-eye, passed 
from before the eyes of the Delawares, and w^ere soon buried in 
the vast forests of that region. 

But^the tie which, through their common calamity, had 
united the feelings of these simple dwellers in the woods with 
the strangers who had thus transiently visited them, was not so 
easily broken. Years passed away before the traditionary tale 
of the white maiden, and of the young warrior of the Mohicans, 
ceased to beguile the long nights and tedious marches, or to 
animate their youthful and brave with a desire for vengeance. 
Neither were the secondary actors in these momentous incidents 
forgotten. Through the medium of the scout, who served for 
years afterwards as a link between them and civilized life, they 
learned, in answer to their inquiries, that the “ Grey Head ” 
was speedily gathered to his fathers — borne down, as was 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


441 


enoneously believed, by liis military misfortunes; and that the 
“Open Hand” had conveyed his surviving daughter far into 
the settlements of the “ pale-faces,” where her tears had at last 
ceased to flow, and had been succeeded by the bright smiles 
which were better suited to her joyous nature. 

But these were events of a time later than that which con- 
cerns our tale. Deserted by all of his color. Hawk-eye returned 
to the spot where his own sympathies led him, with a force that 
no ideal bond of union could bestow. He was just in time to 
catch a parting look of the features of Uncas, whom the IK-Ia- 
wares were already inclosing in his last vestments of skins. 
They paused to permit the longing and lingering gaze of the 
sturdy woodsman, and wheii it was ended, the body was enve- 
loped, never to be unclosed again. Then came a procession like 
the other, and the whole nation was collected about the tem])0- 
rary grave of the chief — temjtorary, because it was ]>roj)er that, 
at some future day, his bones should rest among those of his 
own people. 

The movement, like the feeling, had been simultaneous and 
genei’al. I'he same grave expression of grief, the same rigid 
silence, and the same deference to the principal mourner, were 
observed around the place of interment as have been already 
described. The body was deposited in an attitude of repose, 
facing the rising sun, w'ith the implements of war and of the 
chase at hand, in readiness for the final journey. An opening 
was left in the shell, by which it was protected from the soil, for 
the spirit to communicate with its earthly tenement, when 
necessary ; and the whole was concealed from the instinct, and 
protected from the ravages of the beasts of prey, with an inge- 
nuity ])eculiar to the natives. The manual rites then ceased, 
and all present reverted to the more spiritual part of the cere- 
monies. 

Chingachgook became once more the object of the common 
attention. He had not yet spoken and something consolatory 
and instructive was exjiected from so renowned a chief on an 

19 ^ 


442 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


occasion of such interest. Conscious of the wishes of the people, 
the stern and self-restrained warrior raised his face, which had 
latterly been buried in his robe, and looked about him with a 
steady eye. His firmly compressed and expressive lips then 
severed, and for the first time during the long ceremonies his 
voice was distinctly audible. 

“ Why do my brothers mourn !” he said, regarding the dark 
race of dejected warriors by whom he was environed ; “ why do 
my daughters weep ! that a young man has gone to the happy 
hunting grounds ; that a chief has filled his time with honor ! 
He was good : he was dutiful; he was brave. Who can deny 
it ? The Manitto had need of such a warrior, and he has called 
him away. As for me, the son and the father of Uncas, I am a 
blazed pine, in a clearing of the pale-faces. My race has gone 
from the shores of the salt lake, and the hills of the Delawares. 
But who can say that the serpent of his tribe has forgotten his 
wisdom ? I am alone — ” 

“ No, no,” cried Hawk-eye, who had been gazing with a 
yearning look at the rigid features of his friend, with something 
like his own self-command, but whose philosophy could endure 
no longer ; “ no. Sagamore, not alone. The gifts of our colors 
may be different, but God has so placed us as to journey in the 
same path. I have no kin, and I may also say, like you, no 
people. He was your son, and a red-skin by nature ; and it 
may be that your blood was nearer — but if ever I forget the lad 
who has so often fou’t at my side in war, and slept at my side 
in peace, may He who made us all, whatever may be our color 
or our gifts, forget me ! The boy has left us for a time ; but, 
Sagamore, you are not alone.” 

Chingachgook grasped the hand that, in the warmth of feel- 
ing, the scout had stretched across the fresh earth, and in that 
attitude of friendship these two sturdy and intrepid woodsmen 
bowed their heads together, while scalding tears fell to their feet, 
watering the grave of Uncas like drops of falling rain, 

In the midst of the awful stillness with which such a burst of 


THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 


443 


feeling, coming, as it did, from the two most renowned warriors 
of that region, was received, Tamenund lifted his voice to disperse 
the multitude. 

“ It is enough,” he said. “ Go, children of the Lenape, the 
anofer of the Manitto is not done. Why should Tamenund 
stay ? The pale-faces are masters of the earth, and the time of 
the red-men has not yet come again. My day has been too 
long. In the morning I saw the sons of Unamis happy and 
strong ; and yet, before the night has come, have I lived to sec 
the last warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans.” 


THE END. 














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